About Twelve “Almost” Christians (Part 2 of 2)

Truth For Life Daily Program

Alistair Begg

Religion & Spirituality, Alister, Truth, Bible, Parkside, Allister, Begg, Truthforlife, Teaching, Alistair, Christianity, For, Life

4.8 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Are you trying your best to be like Jesus? This is a mistake well-meaning individuals have made since the days of the early church. Listen to Truth For Life as Alistair Begg points out the danger of this approach and teaches what faith truly entails.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Are you trying your hardest to be just like Jesus?
0:28.1	Well, turns out that can be a dreadful mistake, and it's one that well-meaning individuals have made often since the days of the early church.
0:36.8	Today, on Truth for Life, we'll hear about the dangers of this approach,
0:40.8	and we'll see what genuine believing faith actually entails.
0:45.6	Alistair Begg is teaching about the Apostle Paul's encounter with a group of
0:49.2	almost Christians in chapter 19 of Acts.
0:59.0	Music Christians in Chapter 19 of Acts. These people were almost Christians.
1:02.9	They weren't Christians.
1:05.5	The Spirit of God did not live in them.
1:08.5	And if the Spirit of God does not live in you, says the Bible, you do not
1:13.5	belong to Jesus. It's an amazing question. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
1:21.9	And the answer is as striking as the question. In fact, the answer might even be more
1:26.3	striking. No. We haven't even heard
1:32.3	that there is a Holy Spirit. Wow. That takes it up a notch, doesn't it? I mean, did you receive
1:40.8	the Holy Spirit when you believed? No, absolutely not. In fact, we don't really know
1:45.7	much about the Holy Spirit at all. We hadn't heard. Now, I think there is a little hyperbole in their
1:52.7	response. There has to be, doesn't there? And this is where, again, in the reading of the Bible,
1:57.3	we need to read it in a way that takes into account the genre and the way in which
2:01.6	people express themselves, so that they will express themselves in a more dramatic way to make the
2:06.4	point. Again, you must figure this out, but I can't understand it any other way, because I don't
2:12.1	understand how anybody who knew about the baptism of John doesn't know about the Holy Spirit.
2:17.4	I don't know anybody who's been
	...

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