Freed from Fear to Open Our Inheritance? | Jo Saxton Message Review

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I see across the earth, across every different country, from all different backgrounds, all different ages, that we would, for two days, come together and ignore our feeds, ignore all the noise, ignore the chaos inside of us, and listen to the

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Word of God taught. And what Paul is saying to these people is that because of what Jesus has done, because of what the

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Spirit of God has done, you don't have to be defined by fear anymore. We believe in just people full of the

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Spirit of God, teaching the Word of God, praying to the living God. We believe in you to change the world.

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But I beg you to consider the question, where is fear defining your life? Which face of fear shows up on your best days and your ugliest days?

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And let me tell you what we're going to talk about this year because it has never been more important for you to host your people in your place.

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We are going to talk about Jesus. This time, the power of the Father sets you free.

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This time, by the Spirit of God, you do not have to be defined by all the things that have labeled your identity.

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If 2020, we are going to focus completely, entirely, solely on the person of Jesus.

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I was preoccupied by my Father's absence, defined by His absence in my life, until the

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Spirit of God revealed Himself to me in a whole new way. Every talk is going to be about Jesus.

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The theme of IfGathering 2020 is Jesus. We have those phrases, don't we, where we say, sticks and stones don't break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

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It's such a lie. Such a lie. We've been owned by the things that people said are too much about us, not enough about us, things that we're always and things that we will never be.

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But because we're going to preach the name of Jesus, we're going to preach the name of Jesus. It's the only name we care about.

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It's the only name that changes lives. It's the only hope we have to give. And I ask you, what part of your old life is still laying claim to you?

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Is still holding on tight? What are the words that you can't escape? What is the past you can't get past?

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It is what we're going to put all of our hope, all of our stock in, because we know He is the only hope.

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We know there is nothing that can solve the chaos of this world and the chaos inside of us except for Him.

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And so He is going to be the thing we focus all of our attention on in IF2020.

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So that means that we want you to invite your people because we believe there's going to be people that meet Jesus for the very first time.

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We believe there's going to be people that have been far away from God and the church and they're going to come back.

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We believe there are people that love Jesus, but they don't know what it means to live for Him. And we're going to talk about all of that.

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What are the fears that whisper in your ear and you've sung the songs and you've prayed the prayers and you say you're not a slave to fear and yet you see that woman and you're like,

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I should have worn a different outfit. If I'd have worn those jeans, it would have lifted and sculpted in all kinds of glorious ways.

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We're going to start this thing off with one of my favorite chapters in this book called the

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Bible. And whether you've known Jesus for a long time or you're just checking

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Him out, we're not going to water Him down here. We're going to Romans 8.

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I don't know that there's a deeper theological piece of work in the

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Bible, so we're going here. If the things that we've learned already from Romans 8 about the

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Spirit of God living in us, changing us, no condemnation, then it has implications.

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It has implications for the life that we live and for what it means in the everyday, what it means this weekend, but also on Tuesday, on Wednesday morning, on Friday night.

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It has implications. My dream, guys, I don't dream small, I only dream big. And my dream is to disciple a whole generation and that takes all of us working together.

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We give you the tools, you all take them and use them in your places. We cannot wait to see what God's going to do.

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Do not miss. If 2020 will be the best one yet. And the Father has given us gifts that we refuse to unwrap because we're afraid of them.

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And what you will leave with, I believe, is more of Jesus. Misinterpreting the

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Bible, listen, is essentially no better than not believing it, okay?

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Misinterpreting it is essentially no better than not believing it because if you believe something it doesn't say, you have missed what it does say.

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So while believing what it doesn't say, you don't believe what it does say. What good does it do to agree that the

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Bible is God's Word, God's revelation, if you misinterpret it?

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You miss the truth. You miss the authorial intent. Interpreting Scripture is absolutely critical.

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I might be a very effective communicator, you might be very glib, you might be very warm -hearted toward the

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Bible, you might want to do the very best you can to communicate what you think the

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Bible means. But this is real serious here. This is so serious that I would compare it to a physician.

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You don't want somebody who's untrained in surgery to operate on you.

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And there's a sense in which we want to be careful who operates on the Word of God. Who cuts into the

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Word of God to discern its meaning should be prepared. Truth must be rightly understood.

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Welcome to the Thoroughly Equipped podcast where we compare the teachings from popular women's ministry, books, conferences,

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Bible studies, etc., to Scripture. Our focus is 2 Timothy 3, 16 -17, that all

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Scripture is God -breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so the man or woman of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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I'm your host, Melba Toast. May this episode bless you and bring glory to God.

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Hey, ladies, and welcome back to another episode of Thoroughly Equipped.

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So glad you could join me today. If you are new, well, welcome. We are in the middle of critiquing the very popular women's conference, the

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If Gathering. And in the previous episodes, I presented to you my purpose in critiquing this conference.

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How about I'm going about doing that. And if you decide to watch those,

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I'll put the first episode, of course, in a link above. If not, there's a playlist under my channel where you can start from the beginning.

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Watching them will help put this episode in context for you because we are in the middle of looking at the 2020 conference.

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As the speakers were set to address Romans 8 and present us with Christ through them.

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Or at least that's what was promised by Jenny Allen in the opening session of the conference.

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So far, we're three sessions in and the word Christ and the name Jesus has been mentioned.

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But his person and work is, at this point, lacking in the messages.

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If we were really being taught what Paul had communicated in this epistle, it would be really, really hard to not learn about Jesus and what he did for his people because our problem and God's work is laid bare for us to know in this letter.

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Now we've heard from Jada Edwards that God satisfied our greatest need, but no talk of how he did.

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We've heard from Jenny Allen that we set our mind on the Spirit by fighting the enemy that presents us with negative thoughts.

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And we've learned from Beth Moore that we should learn to value that which is in us, the

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Spirit of Christ, so that we would be empowered to live supernatural lives and accomplish

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God's calling for us. All of this we're supposed to get from Romans 8, 1 to 11.

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Today, I'm going to present to you a message given by Joe Saxton on Romans 8, 14 to 17.

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And like the other messages, we are going to first look at this text in context and practice hermeneutics to determine what the author's intent was in writing the passage.

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We're going to read what the Holy Spirit is trying to teach us through this epistle, which Paul wrote, so that we can compare it to what

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Joe Saxton delivers. But first, who is Joe Saxton?

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Joe Saxton is an author, speaker, podcaster, and entrepreneurial coach, born to Nigerian parents and raised in London.

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Joe brings a multicultural and international perspective to her leadership training for women.

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A sought -after speaker, Joe has a diverse calendar addressing universities, churches, national conferences, non -profits, and corporations, including

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Q Catalyst, EverEve, Noonday Collection, Lakeshore Media, and speaks internationally in the

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UK and Australia. This I got from joesaxton .com,

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her very own website. Ms. Saxton co -hosts a podcast titled

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Lead Stories with Pastor Steph O 'Brien, where they discuss, quote, challenges and opportunities around leadership, with the goal of, quote, encouraging their audience to step into their

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God -given influence with courage and intentionality. End quote.

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Got that from joesaxton .com. She has authored several books, such as More Than Enchanting, The Dream of You, High Heels and Holiness.

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Her book, Ready to Rise, quote, tackles the real -life issues women face, workplace harassment, sexism, low self -esteem, financial woes, power battles, and old wounds, while providing meaningful wisdom from Joe's own journey to leadership, end quote, joesaxton .com.

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In her own About page on her website, she informs us that she has led ministries, non -profits, and pastored and planted churches.

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Now, I am curious about this rise in training of women to be leaders.

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It's become extremely popular in women's ministry today and is especially promoted by almost all the speakers showcased at IfGathering.

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Somehow there's this idea that every woman is a leader. Words such as serve and submit and servant seem to have vanished from their vocabulary.

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I think I may do an episode on this type of teaching and mentality within the women's ministry as I see so many

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Christian women promote themselves as leaders or life coaches and social media influencers, but I digress.

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So Joe Saxton also has been a guest preacher at Willow Creek Community Church and City Life Church located in Melbourne, Australia, preaching over both men and women at these churches.

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She has also spoken at Vineyard Church's VNG conference. Now, the

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Association of Vineyard Churches is a neo -charismatic evangelical denomination to which all vineyard churches are connected, much like how

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Assembly of God are associated with each other. Vineyard Churches are connected through a movement started by John Wimber, rooted in the charismatic renewal that is associated with the

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Signs and Wonders movement, the Toronto Blessing. And to be blunt, many, many false teachings have come out of all these movements and have influenced broader evangelicalism today.

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In discerning female teachers within women's ministry, the first thing I look at is her submission to Christ's authority, and Ms.

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Joe Saxton fails that test by not only preaching to men at numerous churches, but also claiming to pastor and plant churches.

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She also heartily promotes women who pastor and lead men in church, and encourages other women to do so by inspiring them to become leaders through her coaching and example.

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These should be enough to inform us of how authoritative she believes God's written word is, but we can observe further and assess how she handles scripture in her message at the 2020

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IF gathering conference. So let's dive into it, shall we? Now if you remember from the last couple of episodes, we know that Paul was presenting the truth that all men are under the wrath of God because mankind suppresses the truth in unrighteousness,

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Romans 1, 18 -25. Both Jew and Gentile are unrighteous and are under sin, for by the works of the law no human being is justified in the sight of God, Romans 3, 9 -20.

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But now the righteousness of God has been made manifest, the righteousness that comes by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, who was put forward as the propitiation for our sins, so he would be just and justifier of the one who has faith in him,

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Romans 3, 21 -27. Paul goes on about the promise made to Abraham and how by faith in it he was justified and we are

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Abraham's children when we too have faith in God and the sacrifice of his son on the cross for our sins.

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That we are counted righteous when we believe in him who raised up from the dead

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Jesus our Lord who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification,

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Romans 4, 13 -25. Just as sin entered the world by one man's,

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Adam's, trespass, bringing condemnation for all men, it is through the one man,

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Jesus Christ, that the free gift of grace abounds for many, bringing them justification, righteousness, and life,

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Romans 5, 12 -21. And it is because of this great grace that we do not go on sinning, for if we have been united with Christ, our old self was crucified with him, setting us free from sin, dead to it and alive to Christ, since we are not under law but grace,

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Romans 6, 1 -12. Because we are under grace, we are to present ourselves as slaves.

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Having become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which we were committed and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

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For we have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God. The fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

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The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our

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Lord, Romans 6, 15 -23. For those who know the law are bound to the law, but we have died to the law through the body of Christ so that we may belong to him in order to bear fruit for God.

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We are released from the law to serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

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But that doesn't mean the law is sin. No, Paul says the law was the way he came to know what sin is and to make manifest of how he sins, producing death in him, in order that sin might be shown to be sin and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.

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The law is spiritual, but he is of the flesh, sold under sin. Yet he sees in himself a conflict, the conflict between that of his desire to obey the commandments and his flesh, which prevents his members from carrying it out.

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For he does not do the good he wants, but the evil he does not want is what he keeps doing, making him captive to the law of sin and his members.

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He then cries out that he is wretched and needs to be delivered from the body of death.

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Romans 7. Here is where Paul proclaims that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because Christ came in the flesh, condemned sin in his flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not in the flesh but in the

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Spirit. Those who walk in the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, those who walk in the

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Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Those who are in the flesh cannot please

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God. Now this is where we are in the epistle. I am going to read from Romans 8, 9 -17.

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You however are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

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Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the

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Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised

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Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his

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Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.

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For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

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And here is Joe Saxton's verses. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

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For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry,

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Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

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So let's look at what this passage is talking about. The Holy Spirit, through Paul, after informing the reader that those who are in the flesh cannot please

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God, tells us that we are not of the flesh if the Spirit of God dwells in us. He wants us to know that though our body is dead because of our sin, the spirit of life residing in us is righteousness.

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That same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us and gives life to our mortal bodies.

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Because of this, we are not to let our flesh rule over us. We owe it nothing.

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And instead, we desire to make great pains to put it to death so we might live.

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If we are led by the Spirit to put to death the deeds of the flesh, then we can know we are sons of God.

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We did not receive the spirit of slavery, of which he is talking about being under the control of the flesh.

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Slavery to our desires and sins, by which we know in truth that we will one day be held accountable for every thought, word, and deed, every transgression of God's law.

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Knowing that God's wrath will one day pour out on all who are without a perfect righteousness leads one into fear.

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This is true good and right to have, in a certain amount or other, understood this and been brought to this fear.

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This fear leads to repentance. But we are not slaves to this fear, because we have been given the spirit that instead of fear, we go to God as Abba Father, bearing witness that we are children of God, and as children heirs with Christ, not under God's wrath, but under his care and love.

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In Christ, we will receive what God promises, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

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Alright, before we dive into Ms. Saxton's message, I want to point out that between Beth Moore's message and Joe Saxton's message, there is a portion of scripture that is left out and not even included in the re -reading given by each speaker.

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So I mentioned in a previous episode that in their conference introduction, they read chapter 8 in its entirety.

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But with each message, each speaker has also, so far, gone back and read the section of Romans chapter 8 that they were given to teach on.

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This is where a couple of passages are completely left out. Romans 8 verses 12 and 13 are two of them.

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Now what these verses say is this. So then brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the

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Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. This is a conference, not a church, and so I understand that in any depth, verse by verse teaching can be too much ass sometimes, but what

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I do think is necessary and what I think should be happening in a conference that is, at this time, promising to give us

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Christ from Romans 8, is to at least speak about what is being taught in Romans 8, and that involves presenting messages that teach the concepts that come from this text.

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For either Beth Moore's message or Joe Saxton's message, verses 12 and 13, should be read and should be in their message in some form or other because it is part of Romans 8, yet it is completely cast aside and ignored.

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With that said, let's see how Joe Saxton handles the text she's been given to speak on.

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Joe Saxton starts out with presenting the audience with this thought. If the

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Spirit of God is real, living in us, changing us, and bringing us no condemnation, then it has implications for everyday life.

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If the things that we've learned already from Romans 8 about the Spirit of God living in us, changing us, no condemnation, then it has implications.

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It has implications for the life that we live and for what it means in the everyday, what it means this weekend, but also on Tuesday, on Wednesday morning, on Friday night.

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It has implications. And that Romans 8, verses 14 to 17, explain that and expound upon what

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Jesus has done for us. She reads the text and gives a brief explanation into some history behind the

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Roman Empire at the time that this was written. And this is good.

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To get to know the history at the time can help sharpen our understanding of what is being said in this text.

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Let's listen in to see what she says about the history because she will use it to lay a foundation for her message.

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Now there are so many things that we can draw from this and we don't have the time for it all, but there are a few points

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I want to make. But before I even do that, a little insight into the Roman world because sometimes we just look at it through our own

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Western lens and forget what's actually happening at the time. And there's some riches in there that are important for all of us.

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Rome's a really wealthy city. It's a major political hub. Some compare it to DC in our modern world or the major cities of the globe.

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The Roman church didn't meet in a big congregational setting. It was far more like some of our if local gatherings, meeting in homes, meeting in bedrooms, meeting in the spaces they spend their everyday life.

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In terms of the wider culture, well, the culture did all kinds of religions and it didn't mind.

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You could follow Jesus as long as you worship the emperor too. That was how it went.

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But if you declared that Jesus was your everything, that he was the most important thing, well, that's when you got in trouble.

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And so the church would often get in trouble. It was a culture that had lots of all kinds of people in it.

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But as was true of much of the Roman Empire, there was a number of people who'd been defined by slavery.

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They either had lived their entire lives as slaves or they had been freed from slavery. It was very common for slaves to be set free on a regular basis or to be able to buy their freedom.

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That's the backdrop and it'll become important to us in a little while. The thing this passage is known for is talking about adoption.

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When we think of adoption, we have our own understanding, don't we? There are a number of us here who have adopted children or have been adopted.

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But when we are looking at adoption here, it's not the adoption of the Western world that we're used to where a more vulnerable child is brought into a family setting for nurture and a whole new beginning.

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In the Roman world, when adoption happened, it was a wealthy leader who was looking for an heir, someone to continue their legacy, someone to continue their future, as it were, to run their business.

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And so they would adopt an adult, often an adult male, someone who'd been enslaved. And there'd be a big legal ceremony that would set them free.

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And it was known as the power of the father, the power of the father. And in this big ceremony, all the debts that that slave had were now eradicated.

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Their old identity was now gone forever. In this legal transaction, they had all the new rights.

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They gained a new father in that day as a grown, full grown adult. So with this background in mind that many of the subjects were defined by slavery and going on to explain the

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Roman institution of adoption as one of taking on a slave to be adopted and be trained to take on the family business, so to speak, she describes the ceremony that took place in the adoption of these slaves, that somehow in the ceremony, there was a wiping out of their past.

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In this big ceremony, they had their old life completely wiped out. Gone forever.

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No, the past no longer had any claim on their life. It didn't matter what attracted them before.

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It didn't matter what had dehumanized them before. It didn't matter what owned them or managed them or held them captive before.

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It was done now. And every debt they had was completely paid. They would never have to look back.

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It wasn't just a new day. It was an entirely new life. All was forgotten and forgiven, no matter what their past was, no matter the debts.

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Their life was, quote, completely and utterly transformed, unquote. It is with this background.

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She then says that we are to look at the text. She reads the first part of verse 15, and she will read from the

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New Living Translation. Paul says this. So you have not received the spirit that makes you fearful slaves.

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Slavery is dehumanizing. It strips you of your identity, your purpose and potential, because all you're known as is a slave, not as a woman, not as a mother, not as a friend, not as a talented person.

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You're eradicated. And what Paul is saying to these people is that because of what Jesus has done, because of what the

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Spirit of God has done, you don't have to be defined by fear anymore. I want to bring to your attention the fact that she is using this translation because from it she will teach the crux of her message.

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Unless you have many translations in front of you, you would not be able to recognize this very sneaky twist.

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The New Living Translation states what she read. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.

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While most other translations render it this way. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear.

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The ESV. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear.

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The Berean Study Bible. Or take this one. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear.

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The King James Version. In this passage, remember the context is in light of the law and our inability to keep it.

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With this knowledge, we're brought into fear of the wrath that is due us for the transgression of God's law.

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This is what is meant by slavery. That the one who sets their mind on the flesh is a slave to the flesh and cannot please

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God. Verse 8. And therefore would rightly be in fear of God who will hold us all accountable.

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Romans 3 19. That is a spirit of slavery or bondage that leads to fear.

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Not that we are slaves to fear. Watch where she goes with this.

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You don't have to be owned or managed or maintained by fear anymore. We've sung it.

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But you know, fear has many faces, doesn't it? And so on one level, we can sing about not being a slave to fear anymore.

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But I wonder if all the faces of fear have their way in our lives. Comparison.

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Oh no, let me start with my personal favorite. Perfectionism. It's not that 9 out of 10 is bad.

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It's just it could be better. In every way, the perfect woman, the perfect body.

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Oh, metabolism. The perfect everything. Because if we're not perfect, then we're not enough.

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Does that manage your life? Does that tell you who to be? Does that tell you how to be? Does it enslave you? Or maybe comparison.

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Comparison is fueled by fear. Because we're not as good as that person. Does it consume your waking thoughts?

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Does it tell you how to live? Does it tell you what to say yes to? Does it tell you to eradicate the word no from your existence?

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Just so that you can be somebody? The other faces of fear.

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Unhealthy competition. It's not that you want that person to lose.

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You just have to be first and to win. Always. Because what does it say about you if you don't?

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Does that determine how you live? Does it present how you have to be?

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I'll give you a couple more faces, then we'll move on from this, sisters. All right. Control. I'm not controlling.

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I'm just organized. I just need everything to go the way I need it to go.

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Gets uncomfortable, doesn't it? Does control manage our existence? Tell us who to be. Worry.

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Anger. Anger is a secondary emotion. Normally fueled by pain or by fear. Now, let me ask again.

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Where is fear defining your life? Where does it manage you?

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Define you? Lead you? Prompt you? Own you?

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Because what this text is showing us is that because of who Jesus is, and because of what the Spirit of God is at work in our lives, because the same power that raised

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Christ from the dead lives in us, we don't have to be owned by comparison. We don't have to be owned by fear.

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We don't have to be owned by control. We don't have to have these things define our life anymore.

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Okay. Long clip and a very sneaky twist. So, this verse is telling us that we don't have to be controlled, or as she put it, owned by fear anymore.

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And then she gives us examples of fears, quote, many faces listing such things as perfectionism, comparicism, and unhealthy competition, control, worry, and anger.

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See the twist? What is the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul saying we are slaves to in Romans?

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What is the slavery to? Are we not to be slaves to fear, owned or managed by such things as perfectionism, comparicism, unhealthy competition, control, worry, and anger?

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Or are we not to go back to slavery to the flesh?

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Slavery to sin that leads to fear. What does

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Paul mean by a spirit of slavery that leads to fear? Scripture interprets scripture.

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Paul in chapter 6 describes slavery, that we are slaves either to obedience, which leads to righteousness, or slaves to sin, which leads to death.

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Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

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But thanks be to God that you were once slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

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I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to sanctification.

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It is the spirit of slavery to sin that will cause us to live in fear.

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The pursuit of our own passions and flesh bring fear because we know that those who do these things will fall under the wrath of God.

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That's the context of this passage. And that is what this spirit is pointing to.

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This verse is not talking about fear owning and ruling our life, producing such character traits as perfectionism, comparison, worry, etc.

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With this twist, we can know then that the text is not really going to be handled correctly.

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Did you see where she went with this? Before we continue, do you remember back in the Jada Edwards message critique where I mentioned that the speakers really emphasize a type of mental battle in their teachings, making people's main problem their struggle with self -esteem and self -doubt.

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Jada talks about God providing for our greatest need without going into the work of Christ at all and because of this we can go through life without condemnation.

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Jenny Allen explains that negative thoughts come from an enemy and Beth Moore urges us to value what is in us so we can live supernatural lives.

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A lot of this really is taught to boost the ego, to boost our self -esteem, to accomplish some great calling and become female leaders as life -gathering goals do.

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Ms. Saxton states that this text is telling us that our problem is fear, not sin, and that this fear shows up as different characteristics that can define our lives.

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Well, let's look at these and really ask if they are characteristics of fear.

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Perfectionism Ms. Saxton states that perfectionism is a result of fearing that we are not good enough, always thinking as if we could have done something better.

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But is perfectionism a result of fear or sin? At the core of perfectionism, there can be a couple of things involved.

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One may desire to be perfect because they believe they can be, which means they don't understand their sinful nature, or perhaps they idolize themselves, relying on themselves to provide what is needed and wanted.

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Regardless, perfectionism in a Christian is due to the lack of understanding that no matter what you do, you cannot please

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God, for the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8 .8 But that which is done in faith is what pleases him.

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Hebrews 11 .6 And therefore the perfectionist needs Christ and to rest and trust in his perfect work.

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Comparicism Is this a result of fear that we are not as good as others?

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Well, wouldn't wanting to be like someone else as good as them be a form of coveting, transgression of the tenth commandment?

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Isn't coveting a result of not trusting that God knows best in the way he has made you and what he has given you?

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And why might one compare themselves to another than we in some form or other believe they are better than ourselves or in pride are better than others?

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Why even compare ourselves to others? We are all sinners. Why not compare ourselves to Christ?

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Grasp our depravity. Call out to our heavenly father to forgive us and praise him for giving us his son.

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A right understanding of whom we are clothed with when we trust in the work of Christ casts all comparison aside for we realize that we are all one in Christ Jesus.

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Galatians 3 .28 Unhealthy competition Is this a result of fear of not being first in what it says about you when you lose?

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Again, cannot the desire to win be a result of the sin of coveting, coveting the status of being a winner?

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When one worries over what losing a competition would say about one, isn't there pride in that?

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That to lose would humble us and it would hurt our pride? And who is it that receives the glory when we win?

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Unhealthy competition is a result of sin, not fear. Control Is this a result of fear?

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Or is it the result of a lack of faith and trust in God and his sovereignty?

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Is it a result of idolatry of the self and self -reliance? These are sins.

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She lists worry, again, lack of trust in the sovereignty and goodness of God, and anger, usually a result of the lack of gratitude for all

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God has given, and or a lack of modesty and humbleness for who is to say we deserve anything or any decent treatment.

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We usually lash out in anger because we feel someone has mistreated us or hurt our feelings, and we can feel anger for the mistreatment of others, but that would be good, but only if it's based in the truth.

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She continues by begging us to ask this question. Where is fear defining our lives?

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And what does God want to say to us about it? But I beg you to consider the question, where is fear defining your life?

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Which face of fear shows up on your best days and your ugliest days? And what would

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God love to say to you about that? She then goes back into the passage and reads the rest of verse 15 and verse 16 from, again, the

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New Living Translation. Instead, you receive God's Spirit when

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He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him Abba Father, for His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are

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God's children. She will then connect the spirit of adoption to being set free from fear, not sin, mind you, fear.

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Just about a baby being nurtured, but someone who'd been trapped, someone who'd been owned, someone who'd been dehumanized.

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This time, the power of the Father is on your life. This time, the power of the Father sets you free.

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This time, by the Spirit of God, you do not have to be defined by all the things that have labeled your identity.

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That you are not just welcome, but remember all the things that you think you owe? Remember the things that have named your life, owned your identity, owned your story?

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The words that have defined you? I say this every year, so I'll say it again, because why not? We have those phrases, don't we, where we say, sticks and stones don't break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

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It's such a lie. Such a lie. We've been owned by the things that people said are too much about us, not enough about us, things that we're always, and things that we will never be.

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And yet, because we've been adopted, because God has adopted us in His family, the power of the

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Father says this, it's broken. The old debts are done. And it has no claim on your life anymore.

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Those words don't have to define you and drive the way you live your life. You get to be free.

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Because, yes, it is something to cheer about, yeah, real talk. You get to be free. You get to live free.

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So I ask, are you free? So our problem was that we were under the slavery of fear, oppressed, labeled, and misidentified, not that we were slaves to sin, to our flesh, walking the desires to gratify the flesh, all of which was leading us to death.

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Instead, we were victims to fear and owned by what we say about ourselves and what others say about us.

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But now we have been adopted, no longer owned by these things. And again, she challenges us to ask if we are really free.

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She then talks about how we may struggle with this idea of God being our father. But there's a challenge for us, isn't there, in this?

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Because it talks about, we get to call him Abba, father. And for some of us, for some of us, even that's a bit of a challenge, really.

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That some of us have had bad experiences with our fathers and tend to equate that with our heavenly father.

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She gives her own story of the absence of her father in her life. I was preoccupied by my father's absence, defined by his absence in my life until the spirit of God revealed himself to me in a whole new way.

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And invites us to come to God as a different father, one that wants to set us free from whatever has trapped us.

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And asks us what is our picture of God the father and how is it defining our life?

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She urges us to be honest if we still fear God. What's your picture of God the father and how is it defining how you live your life?

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Or if you're honest, it's good to be honest rather than us lie about our faith, it's good to be honest. If we're honest, would we say that actually we are still afraid of this

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God the father? We do expect him to let us down. We do expect him to hurt us.

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Or we don't know what he's like. And I ask you what part of your old life is still laying claim to you?

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Is still holding on tight? What are the words that you can't escape? What is the past you can't get past?

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In this clip, she lays out that our past words or characteristics of fear, these things that she says could still be laying claim to you need to be let go.

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And insinuates that our lack of knowing God as our heavenly father is a result of these things in our past.

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Not our sins, not a lack of diving into his word and getting to know Christ, but merely letting go of our fears.

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What are the fears that whisper in your ear and you've sung the songs and you've prayed the prayers and you say you're not a slave to fear and yet you see that woman and you're like,

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I should have worn a different outfit. If I'd have worn those jeans, it would have lifted and sculpted in all kinds of glorious ways.

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And since she says God is real, has adopted us and is a better father than we know, it changes our life forever.

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Since God is real, since he's adopted us, since he is a different kind of father to even the best fathers we've ever known, it changes our life forever.

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And on one level, that would be enough. If that was all that we could get from this, that would be wonderful.

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I don't have to be defined by fear anymore. Check. I've got a new dad and he's better than the one I had. Check. I have been adopted.

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All my debts are paid. Wonderful. But there is more. There is more.

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But there is more. Since we are adopted, we are also heirs. She then proceeds to read the rest of the passage.

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Since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God's glory.

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But if we are to share in his glory, we also share in his suffering. She then brings back the Roman laws and institute that surrounded

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Roman adoption, describing how slaves who were adopted became heirs who were to carry on the legacy of the family, always belonging to the father and always representing him in the world.

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The slave is now an heir and has been given a purpose. The thing about adoption in the

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Roman times is you could never be disowned. You were always his and you were always representing him in the world.

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This one slave now has a purpose, now has an identity which leads him into the future and a new life where everything he did as he lived out the business would represent what the father brought and who the father was in the world.

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Now, you and I are heirs. So it's not just that we are daughters of the king. It's not just that we are transformed, but we have a purpose to rise into.

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We have been given an inheritance. We have been given gifts and ability and calling to live into.

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It's part of this transaction here. Not only is the past gone, the future is now.

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Not only the things and the words and the cruelty and the difficulties and the agonies that have defined and shaped us, not only has their power been broken, but there's a new life now.

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Are you living with your inheritance? Have you picked up the gifts that the father gave you?

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Now, there's a tiny bit of truth in this in regards to a new life and gifts being given to us to do good works, not some grand purpose, but works of service and love towards others in big and small ways.

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But this is not what this passage is saying about our inheritance. While there are some blessings that we receive when we become

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Christians, we can't or won't miss out on anything God has promised to give us.

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Before we get into what this passage means by being an heir and what is our inheritance, let's continue listening to what she has to say.

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But can you imagine a child on a Christmas day or any other given day having something which is a gift and not unwrapping it, thinking,

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I'm still bound by my fears. I'm still bound by my comparison. I'm not as good at that gift as she is. That gift don't look as good on me as it looks on her.

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I'm afraid of that gift. That gift is dangerous in my hands because did you know who I used to be?

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Did I know what you used to do? And yet I think we do that all the time. The father has given us gifts that we refuse to unwrap because we're afraid of them.

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Because we're intimidated by them. Because we're not sure we're good enough for them. Because we're not sure we've got our lives together enough.

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And then suddenly, although we've sung that we're no longer a slave to fear, we are actually living it all over again.

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And God invites you, unwrap the gift. Step into your inheritance.

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Now, like I said, God does give us gifts, but is that our inheritance?

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Are our gifts, special gifts meant to help us perform special callings and purposes, are these our inheritance?

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And can we miss our inheritance because of fear? Is this what Paul means when he talks about being heirs?

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What does Paul say our inheritance is? Now, let's look at this text and do what we always should when trying to understand what it is trying to say and actually put it back in context.

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Let's start at verse 12 and read all the way to verse 25. of adoption as sons by whom we cry,

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Abba, Father. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

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And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

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For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

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For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to fruitility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

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For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the

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Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

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For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees?

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But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. The inheritance talked about in Romans is not gifts that God has given to accomplish a purpose, but the new heavens and the new earth, free of corruption and futility, and our new imperishable, sinless bodies that we will receive upon the return of Christ.

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But listen to what Miss Saxton says our inheritance is. The gifts you have are his gifts for you, and because as his heirs you have a mission in the world to represent him, to live for him.

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And I wonder as we sit there on our days when we don't claim our inheritance, where our inheritance is left gathering dust and our gifts are left somewhere else, what isn't happening because you and I haven't stepped into what

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God has offered us? What businesses aren't we starting? What courageous conversations that would change our families aren't happening?

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What churches aren't being birthed? What ministries aren't being awoken and brought to life?

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What non -profits aren't happening? What lives aren't being changed because we're afraid of a God -given inheritance? It's time to rise into what

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God has for you. Joe Saxton is teaching that our inheritance is the gifts given by God to accomplish a purpose or great calling.

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These callings such as great business opportunities, conversations, and church births can be missed if we don't open and receive our inheritance.

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See now how this scripture was twisted. It's so often done that women miss it.

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A teacher reads the passage, pulls out one or two verses of that passage, focuses on just one point of the verse, and twists the meaning of that point to be whatever they've decided that it should mean and not actually what the original author intended it to mean.

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In Ms. Saxton's case, she's focusing on slavery and inheritance that has made them mean what she wants them to mean and not what

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Paul actually has them mean. Slavery, from Ms. Saxton's teaching, is servitude to our fears, and our inheritance are the gifts that God has given to us to accomplish our great calling in this life.

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A calling or purpose that can be neglected or missed because we might remain slaves to our fears or go back to slave to fear.

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Is that what Paul is trying to explain in his writings to the Romans? This type of teaching is very world -centered, very focused on this side of eternity.

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It's also, again, very burdensome on women. It causes one to look away from clear instruction from God encouraging his women to be focused on her home, her husband, her children, and her close neighbors, and instead makes her doubt that her simple faith in Christ through the outworking of love displayed in obedience to the commandments of God are not pleasing to God nor are fulfilling his calling for her life.

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Instead, she's brought to reject these things and work towards so -called bigger works, a grand purpose or calling that takes her away from her home and pushes her toward a world -changing work, thinking that she is accomplishing the

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Lord's work received through subjective nudges based on what she feels God is calling her to, and rejecting the clear, concise instructions found in his word.

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This type of teaching places more power in us to accomplish God's will than in God himself, for his will is dependent on us finding it and putting to use our gifts.

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Scripture speaks of no such God, nor of such power in man.

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God states in Isaiah 46, 8 -11, I am

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God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying,

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My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.

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Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country,

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I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass. I have purposed, and I will do it.

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If God purposed it, he makes it happen. If it doesn't happen, it wasn't in God's plan, period.

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Ms. Saxton continues to encourage her audience that this inheritance, these gifts, have our names on them, and they are how

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God empowers us to live. What gifts have we left unwrapped, she poses. Because it's got your name on, and it's his gift to you, and he empowers you by his spirit to live into it.

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And so I encourage you to think of this as when I come into land. What gifts have you left unwrapped? You might have called it humility instead, to not mention it.

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You know, we like to spiritualize our fears. What gifts have you left unwrapped? What inheritance have you left unclaimed?

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Where is God inviting you to rise into your purpose, to step into what he has for you?

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I don't know if you've noticed, but sometimes you turn on the news, and the world is a dumpster fire. It's a wonderful place.

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It's a beautiful place, and there we are thinking, oh, it's terrible. Well, where are we? Where are we rising to be the kind of business leaders that are doing things different, the kind of neighbors that are living things different?

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Where are we stepping in, bringing life and light and new things and love to a broken world?

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Because that's the opportunity you and I have. Where are we? Church is doing exactly what God wants them to do, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which

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God prepared beforehand that we should walk in. Ephesians 2 .10 If there is any inheritance that goes unclaimed or unreceived, then

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God is a liar, for Scripture is clear that God's divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who calls us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

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2 Peter 1 .3 -4 All things related to life and godliness are given to us through the knowledge of Christ.

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Life and godliness are his will. In the knowledge of Jesus Christ, there is nothing that we need that Christ has not supplied to cause us to accomplish

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God's will, partake of the divine nature, and escape corruption.

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And he has promised us the greatest gift of all, a new incorruptible body and eternity with him.

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Instead, Joe Saxton urges us to unwrap our gifts and proclaim the good news that God sets us free from fear, sin, comparison, sets us free from it all.

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We've got good news. It's not the best -kept secret, or at least it doesn't need to be. But in this time, and I say it with every urgency

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I can have, the time is now for us to unwrap our God -given gifts, for us to step in and reclaim our inheritance and run, not like people who've been enslaved but by free women, running into all

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God has for us and inviting everybody to discover the God who sets you free from fear, who sets you free from sin, who sets you free from comparison, who sets you free from it all and gives you a new beginning.

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That's why we're here. That is why we're here. I think this was the only part of her message that I could, for a small part, agree with her.

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For if the Son has set us free, then we truly are free indeed, John 8, 36. Free from sin.

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Free from all the ways we suppress the truth in unrighteousness. When we reject or deny that God is a good

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God who is in complete control, we end up living in fear and anxiety.

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When we reject that God knows best, we live in the sin of ungratefulness, control, comparison, unhealthy competition, worry, and anger.

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Deep down, these are all the result of coveting, wanting more than what God has given, and it's blasphemy rejecting

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God as God and refusing to give Him glory for all that He has done and given.

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All of these deserve the wrath of God. Yet, the

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Son sets us free. Free from fear of the punishment and wrath of God because of the

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Son's sacrifice, and doesn't just give us a new beginning, but an entirely new nature.

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But Jo has made our problem our fears and not our sins, and our inheritance our gifts that magnify our works for the world.

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Romans does not teach this. Romans teaches that the problem lies with us, born with a sinful nature to reject

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God in all we do, think, and say. Romans magnifies Christ's life as our righteousness, and His death on the cross as our propitiation for not only our sins, but the sins of the whole world, and we have come to know

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Him if we keep His commandments. 1 John 2 2 -3 We who trust in Christ's work are given the

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Spirit to set our minds on the things of the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the flesh. Because we have this

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Spirit, we are not to fall back into fear of judgment and wrath of God, but can come to Him as Father, bearing witness that we are

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His children, heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we be glorified with Him.

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These sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed to us, the glory of the new heavens, new earth, and new body that will one day be given to us.

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For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

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When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written,

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Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

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The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our

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Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15 53 -57 This is our inheritance.

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This is what the Spirit groans for within us, and this inheritance will come to pass for all those who trust in Christ Jesus.

01:03:41

Ms. Saxon finishes up her message urging us to know of the quote, invitation of this word, pointing to the

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Bible on the table, claiming it can be a challenge to know God as Father and quote, step into our gifts, but they are waiting to be unwrapped.

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I'm not saying that the issue of learning God as your father isn't challenging. It took me decades to grow into that life and love, but it's real.

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I'm not saying that it's not nerve -wracking stepping into your gifts, but your gifts are waiting to be unwrapped.

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Your inheritance is waiting to be claimed so you can live into all that God the Father has for you, and that a broken world would hear about a

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Jesus who loves them. Sisters, get ready to rise. And that's it for Jo Saxon's message.

01:04:31

What did you think, ladies? Did she handle the text correctly? Was her teaching on Romans 8 14 -17 what

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Paul was trying to teach through it? Feel free to email me and let me know what you think at melbatost at ttew .org.

01:04:47

But until next time, where we'll be examining a message on Romans 8 verses 24 -28 given by Ruth Chow Simmons, I pray that you are praising

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God that you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but a spirit that draws you close to God as a loving

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Father, one who provided everything you needed to be made right with Him.

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A loving Father who sent His Son to die for you and promises to raise you from the dead, like you raised

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Christ from the dead, who is the firstborn among many brothers. I pray you are looking forward to your inheritance, desiring it greatly with each passing day.

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And if you do not know this and are not assured of this promise, I pray that God grants it to you, for I pray that you are in His Word.

01:05:46

Ladies, thanks for listening or watching this episode of Thoroughly Equipped. If this episode blessed you, would you give it a rating or a thumbs up?

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And if you think Thoroughly Equipped is a much needed ministry, consider subscribing. It helps spread the word.

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If you are interested to know more about Thoroughly Equipped, check out the blog, or just find some other great

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Christian resources, you can go to my website at ttew .org.

01:06:14

You can connect with me on Facebook and Instagram, links in the description below, or email me at melbetoast at ttew .org.

01:06:23

Thoroughly Equipped is part of Striving for Eternity's Christian Podcast Community, a one -stop resource for solid podcasts that can assist you in your

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Christian walk. Check that out at christianpodcastcommunity .org. I pray the

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God of all grace grants you more and more knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ as the

01:06:42

Holy Spirit thoroughly equips you through His written Word for every good work.