Chris Grainger: 1:43

Welcome to The Lion Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I'm your host, Chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, fellas. Spiritual kickoff time, my favorite time of the week. I'm gonna be honest with you. Let's go. Let's get into it, okay? We're gonna be in the book of Romans this week, okay? Fifth chapter. Two verses though, seven and eight. I know most of the time we go straight to Romans eight, and I get it. Romans 5, 8 is a great verse, okay? Hanging on the rim. It's it's scripture you put on a coffee mug. But seven gives us something we need to understand too. And it says this very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person. Though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is some hanging on the rim stuff, fellas, I'm telling you. So I'm super pumped to be able to unpack this one with you today to see how we can simplify and apply this two verses to our life as Christian men. Quick reminder: we do this Monday through Friday at the Lion Within Us. It's called the Daily Spiritual Kickoff. So head on over there right now. It's free, bro. You don't, so don't be complaining. Like we give it to you. Daily Spiritual Kickoff. Get started with that. And then we would love to connect and see how we can connect and just serve and help assist you in your discipleship journey. Okay. All right. Now, this verse is right here. We need to first understand is in our Bible. Where do we find Romans? I don't want to take anything for granted. So Romans is found in the New Testament, okay? You're gonna get you through your gospels, then you get to Acts, and then you get to Romans. Okay. You get to 1 Corinthians, you went a little bit too far, buddy. Just back up just a little bit, okay? And most people know verse 8. Let's just be real. It's one of the clearest pictures of the gospel out there. But seven gives a setup that makes eight explode with meeting. It just does. And Paul is making a contrast that we can all understand. And that it's very simple. Human love has limits. Okay? Let's just be real. It does. Even the best among us might sacrifice for someone we think deserve it. Like just think about a friend or a spouse or a child or a child. Like there, there's nothing that I wouldn't do for my wife or my children. My life. Whatever it takes, right? And when we someone does that, what do we call it? We call it her heroic. That was a heroic act. But it's very rare. Just gonna be honest. It's very rare. And that's Paul's point. That self-sacrificial love doesn't always come naturally to us. But then to get to a turning point, I'm not wearing that shirt today. I should have worn that one more thing about it. Like I have a shirt that says but God, right? Those two words change everything. But God. And I'm telling you, anytime you get to a butt in the Bible, it's a big deal. But when you when you get to a but God, you better slow down. Because it's like a divine interruption. Because heaven's breaking through right here in the middle of our weakness. Think about it. We were dead in sin. God did what? He made us alive. We were enemies. God reconciled us. We were hopeless. God gives us mercy. And Romans 5, right here, Paul is showing us the ultimate but God, guys. He's holding up a mirror to our nature. Think about it. We're selfish, we're inconsistent, and we're unwilling to give up a whole lot, particularly for others. We just are. But then he flips it and makes us completely turn our eyes to what? To Jesus, who did the unthinkable. He didn't die for the righteous. He didn't die for the deserving. He died for the undeserving. For sinners. Guess what? You're a sinner, just like I am. We all are. We all fall short of the glory of God, right? And sin, fellas, is something we we cannot just downplay. And the phrase, while we were still sinners, that's mind-blowing. Like it wrecks logic. So I mean, I'm an engineer. Some of you guys are most of them, pretty much all you guys are smarter than me. But just think about we're guys, we're logical, right? We like to logically think through stuff. This leads to this, leads to this. Like just think of a flow chart. That don't that's not how God works. No, because a flow chart does not say I'm gonna kill my son for the way to sin of the world. No, so this is a love that we can't unjust, we can't wrap our mind a our minds around. And why? Because quite frankly, we love those who love us back, right? Like that quid pro quo. Like you love me, I'm gonna love you, I'm gonna take care of you. We help those who what? Who earn it, who deserve it. We give when it makes sense, or when we feel like we we can can can justify it. But God's love ain't logical, it's divine. This is not transactional love, fellas, it's transformational. So picture it this way. Some of you guys big into buying cars and stuff. And let's say, you know, we buy a car, you get a car fax, right? And a car fax tells you everything, every dent, every issue, every time it's been serviced, every time it hasn't been serviced, all the neglicts, things like that. All the flags are right there. So we can see when we're buying a car, and if it has a car fax, what am I getting into? And guess what? God gets the car fax on us, and it says broken, cheating. Um he's an idolater, uh, he he's uh he's a liar, he's a blasphemer. He does all these, he he's not he's not good to his wife, he's not good to his kids, whatever the thing may be, all the stuff, all the things that we think, well man, there is no way in the world that God would do would want to buy me. And you know what? He doesn't walk away. He doesn't even haggle with the price. You know how it is when you buy a car. You never buy a car for what the what the price is. You're always you're gonna haggle them down, right? Nope. What he says is, I want it, and I'm gonna pay full price for it. And I'm gonna pay full price with the blood of my son. I I don't know how you get your head around that. Like, there's no way I would pay full price for a for a broken lemon that I know is a lemon, that I know it's gonna do nothing but cause me problems. But God demonstrates his own love for us while we're still while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. I don't understand it. But that's how the the but outweighs the while, right? The while exposes our sin, but the but exposes his mercy. Because we were a mess, but he wasn't deterred. We were undeserving, but he didn't hesitate. We were lost, and God came running. And only God can write a story like that, fellas. I I can't know what to tell you. Only God could, right? Only his love could overpower sin so completely that in our worst moments, that can't separate us from him. So, what does this mean for us as Christian men here, 20, what is it, 2026, when this thing is coming out? We gotta let some truth sit in and really think about them in a deep way because this is gonna impact how we live and how we love on others, okay? Number one, we gotta stop trying to earn love and start living from it.

unknown: 8:39

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Chris Grainger: 8:40

There's nothing we're gonna do to perform to get God's approval. Uh, you already have it through Christ. We have to recognize that to be true. Then we need us to put the pride to the side and lead from humility. Remember who we were when Christ died for us, right? We're sinners. That helps us stay grounded and grateful. Then as men today, how about extending grace to others? Because he met us with mercy while we were still a sinner, then that's the mercy we should probably extend to our wife, our children, our coworkers, our boss, our customers, whoever it is. Think about the person that aggravates you the most. I got them clearly pictured in my mind. I got to give them mercy. I got to. Not because I'm awesome, but because God is telling me this. He's showing me this. And the last thing we got to think about, fellas, we've got to reject those doggone lies of the enemy. And I cannot stand them because those lies get to me so much. And I know they get to you too. Because Satan is gonna love to whisper in our ears and try to make us feel disqualified. That's what he does. We have to stomp those lies out with what God has already stamped in our life with his redemption. That's it. We have to believe this to be true. Because every single one of us guys are gonna face seasons when life sucks and it just doesn't feel fair. And you're gonna feel seasons where you're you're full of shame and you just don't want anybody to see the real you. Or you're gonna feel seasons where you question your worth. Like I'm just nobody's gonna care if I'm here or not. That's a lie from the pit of hell, and you better send it back there where it belongs. And I write about this stuff all the time on the Bible app because I think this is what guys need, and that's just why so many guys check this stuff out. But when this these lies happen, we gotta hold fast to something true. And that true is the gospel. Because God's love isn't a response to our goodness, it's a declaration of his, bro. That's what it's all about. So the next time the enemy is trying to whisper to you about your wow, like your mistakes and your failures and your flaws, man, just tell us, I say, back up off me, bro, because I got a butt that's gonna completely blow your wow like the stinking water. Because, but God demonstrates his love for me in this while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. That's your identity, that's your anchor. The butt God overpowers the little while that he's gonna throw in and try to throw you up and trip you up with every single time. Got to hang on to that truth, guys. Got to hang on that truth, we've got to believe that to be true and not just believe it, actually walk in the newness of it like you really honestly um believe it with without a shadow of a doubt. Okay. Now, the only way to walk into that truth, though, and to believe this right here, this verses that we've looked at today, is you have to be indwelled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, how do you get the Holy Spirit? Well, you can't go to Amazon and put it in your in your cart and check out. No, it don't work that way. And guess what? Mama can't do it for you, grandma can't do it for you, uh, brother and sister, kids, none of them can do it for you. This is a personal decision, okay? And that's the hard part as a dad. Like, I wish I could do it for my kids. Are you kidding me? I want all my kids to know Jesus, but I can't make them. All I can do is guide them. Guide that horse to water, but you can't make them drink, right? Which is the way it is. So look, this is a personal deal. But God is a personal God. Go back to when he first first formed Adam. If you've never heard the story, what he did, God spoke everything into existence. No, let there be light and all the all the stuff, right? Speak, speak, speak, speak, speak. Until it came to making man, and it's very interesting when you look at what he did. It says God takes his hands and he forms them with his hands out of the dust. And then God breathes the breath of life into Adam's nostrils, the rule of life into Adam's nostrils. Now, guess, think about this for a second. How close you gotta be to somebody to breathe into their nose? You gotta be pretty doggone close. You gotta be all up on them. You have to be in their face. The only person I'm gonna let breathe in my nose is my wife, right? I mean that's the only one. You come try to try to breathe in my nose, I'm probably gonna meet something's gonna meet your nose that you ain't gonna like it. But this is God. He breathed, he came so close that he could breathe the breath of life into Adam's nostrils. And then Adam sits up, and the Bible says that he is face to face with his creator. That is stinking mind-blowing, if you ask me. Just think about Adam. Open it in his eyes, for fully understanding what it's like to even be made to have conscious awareness. And I'm looking at God, and it was perfect. And the reason I bring that up is because Adam was made in the image of God. He's an image bearer, okay? And so are you. We're descendants of Adam. So when you look in the mirror and you see some jacked-up flawed dude, and you got all these scars and just whatever, bro, like you just see nothing but a failure. Uh uh-uh. That's the that's a lie. God's like, perfect. I made you just the way I wanted you to. The way I wanted to, rather. I knit you together in your mother's womb before you even or even a thought of a thought. I knew you. And that's what you need to know about God. He knew, he knows you, he wants a relationship with you so bad. And things were great for Adam for like two pages, man, in the Bible. Like it was great. He was naming plants and animals and just doing all the stuff, and he got he got this super hot chick, and she was his wife now, and it was great. Sin entered, and that temptation entered, and they didn't resist. And Adam's first sin is a sin that we uh all struggle with as Christian men. He was passive. He was passive, he did not step up, he abdicated his responsibility to lead his wife, and that caused the the the downfall. Sin entered the world because of his lack of leadership. Again, that's one of the reasons why we did why we had rely on. We we're trying to help guys recognize this. So that sin fractured the relationship with him and God, with us and God. So now we went from a perfect loving relationship with God to now we're separated. And they went here, they were cast out of the garden. And the rest of the Bible is all about just that separation and that pursuit of Christ and pursuit of God, rather, and just what does this look like? And we have this holy gap, and we can't overcome the gap, except we try to. And man, so many guys I talk to, like they they think they can overcome the gap by just being a good dude, like just helping people or giving a charity or or volunteering or going to church or like all checking the boxes and all this stuff. And I'm like, look, bro, it don't work that way, man. I mean, it's the problem is you're trying to earn a right standing with God, and that's not possible. You can't earn your way there. You know, it's called workspace righteousness. Now, I want you to do the right things, I want you to do all the right stuff for sure, but thinking that it brings any value to the relationship is where we go wrong. No, we don't need to be coached up. We need someone to step in and do for us what we can't do for ourselves. This is why we need Jesus so desperately bad. Jesus is the savior, right? That's the savior. So he think about this. Jesus is in heaven. He looks down, he's like, Yeah, they're not, they can they can't get this. I gotta do it for them. I'm gonna go do for them what they can't do for themselves. I'm gonna come, I'm gonna live the perfect life, I'm gonna show them the path, and then uh I'll be the way. And he leaves heaven on a rescue mission for us, was born of a virgin, fulfilled all the prophecies, did all the teachings, all the miracles, all the everything that Christ did to show us that he was the Messiah. Then what did he do? He went straight to the cross, willingly, willingly gave himself up for us. This verse today talks all about it, right? While he was still a sinner, he died for me. He didn't go to the cross just to get whipped and beaten, although that happened. No, he died on the cross for you, for me, for everyone. Right? His perfect sentless blood ran. And that's where he paid the penalty for our sin. Then they take him off the cross, okay? So they so like if the story stops there, bro, it's just a it's just a sad story. Right, and what are we doing? We should be dressed up like we're going to a funeral every Sunday. But the story didn't stop there. They laid him in a tomb, okay, and and three days, a weekend went by, and Jesus is like, I'm good, I'm coming out. And he overcame death. Jesus rose, he lives. And if you can't wrap your head around the resurrection, I'm with you. It's hard to understand. It's hard to um comprehend. But we have to believe it to be true because there were so many witnesses that saw the risen Jesus walking, talking, eating, and then ascending to heaven. And I don't know about you, I ain't gonna die for a lie. Like I'll help a boy out my boys out from time to time. Maybe I'll stretch the truth if I need to, but I'm not gonna die for it. Particularly if it's a lie that like it's gonna get me killed. But every one of the disciples, outside of John, which he he got exiled, and so it's still pretty bad for him, every one of them died a gruesome death because they would not turn away and refute what they knew to be true. Jesus was the Messiah, he was dead on the cross, and he rose. And you have to recognize that to be true as well. And I can't do it for you, but I'm praying somehow that the Spirit's moving right now, and you recognize that. Then once you recognize that to be true, and he is the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through him, and there's no other name under heaven that's been given among men by which we must be saved. Once you believe those types of verses to be true, then you got to do something with it. Right? You can't just sit there and on the sidelines and just I'm good. Well, I expect when I get to heaven, uh, when I get there, you know, they'll let me in on good merit. I've really tried to be a good person. No, bro, you gotta stop with you. It ain't about you. It's about him. It's about saying, you know what, I'm a sinner in need of a savior. I believe that you are the son of God. I believe you are the Messiah, and I confess you as Lord and Savior of my life. That takes guts. That takes ambition. That takes, you gotta have a pair, do that. Because we're talking about Lord of your life, not just Lord of a Sunday when it's stinking easy. Hey, I'm recording this on Friday. So, Lord over your Friday night, boys. How about that? How much how does that sit with you? That you don't what whatever you're gonna get into tonight, God's gonna be in charge of it. Does that change anything? If that makes you squirm a little bit, maybe it's time to start listening to the Holy Spirit. Because we have to confess Him as Lord. Got to be Lord over your bedroom. All right, boys, you hear me? Your bedroom. What happens in the bathroom? What happens when you're on your phone when you're by yourself? What happens uh with it when you're at work? The way you talk to other women when you're still already married. He's gotta be Lord over all of it, boys. All of it. And I know that's very brutal. And that's and that's well, Chris, you're being a little bit harsh. I don't know. Maybe you just need to hear it a harsh way today. Stop petting and playing with sin and expect not to get bitten. If you play with it, it's gonna bite you. Okay. That's why I don't have pet snakes around here. You know what I do with a snake? I should I cut his head off. I'm gonna kill it. And I ain't gonna play with it. Because I know what happens if you play with deadly things, you get hurt. And the evil one is trying to do three things to you. Three things steal, kill, and destroy. That's all he wants to do. And what I'm trying to point you to is an abundant life, a life of peace that passes all understanding. That only comes when you surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. So if you've never done that and you feel like, okay, I'm I'm picking up what you're putting down. Today's today. Not tomorrow, not when you get to church, because you gotta be in church to get saved. Bro, nobody said you've got to be in church to be saved. You can accept Jesus wherever you are, in the car, in the subway, on the treadmill. He's everywhere. Except call him, accept him into your life as your personal savior right now. I'm gonna pray with you. And we're gonna just call Jesus because we need him to be our personal Lord and Savior. So, Father, for that one listener who, I don't know, maybe they got stirred up today and they're finally, finally, finally recognize they need to stop just playing along and actually lean in to be your disciple. So I pray you hear their prayer. I pray you put people in their life that's gonna guide and direct them, that you just hold off and fend off any attacks at the evil one because the evil one, he likes to go after the weak ones, God. And right now, as new believers, they are weak. They are they may be physically strong, but they're spiritually infants.

unknown: 21:39

Puts

Chris Grainger: 21:40

Some people around them that will guide, direct, help, just just help keep them safe as they learn, as they grow, and as they develop in their discipleship journey. We love you, Lord. We thank you for your son. We thank you for what you did on the cross. We don't deserve it. And Lord, we're going to do all we can to share it with everyone else. It's in your name we pray. Amen. All right. Look, you just accepted Christ. Hit me up. Okay. I want to send you some resources to get you started. I got some verses I want to send you, some resources I want to send you. It's all just like PDF type stuff. So send me the easiest thing, just send me an email, Chris at thelionwithin.us, okay? Thelionwithin.us. Just put my first name. That's what a C. C-H R S. There you go. Guys, I'm going to send you some stuff. I'd love to pray with you. I'd love to just jump on a call. If you're looking for a church, we'll try to give you some things to look out for. Try to give you things to some green flags as well as some red flags, okay? So I would love to hear from you on that. All right. And other than that, guys, it's just an honor each and every week to get to spread God's word, to share God's word. And I hope you find this encouraging. I hope you find that, you know, just by going, I know Chris, you're going through the gospel every every Monday. Like, why? This is the biggest opportunity we have every week. Obviously, I love to share my reflections. I love to share what God's showing and showing me and what he's showing me through the lion. But ultimately, the good news of the gospel is what we've been called to go out and proclaim. And if anything, for you, if you're a believer, maybe you've been a believer since you know uh Noah was in preschool, hey, that's that's great. You gotta have reps. If anything, maybe you hear me going through the way I present it in different formats from time to time. It is nothing more but gonna give you the talking points. So when God puts that opportunity in your life for you to present the gospel to someone else, you'll have the words to say. That's really what it is. Just trying to equip you to be able to serve others. That's it, fellas. All right. Well, look, if I can help in any way, reach out. We got a fun episode coming up on Wednesday. Hope you guys are gonna enjoy that. We've changed our fun Friday, so we have a new spotlight format. So I'm really hoping that you guys are enjoying that. Get a copy of the book, it's right here, Unleashing the Lion Within. I talk about this pretty much every week because this is a big deal to actually have this out now. So please go get a copy of that. You can go to Amazon. That's the only place you're gonna be able to find it. Um, just search for Unleashing the Lion Within. Buy one copy, buy a thousand copies. Whatever, whatever you can do will be the support would be awesome. But the main thing we'd love to connect with you on is at thelionwithin.us because that's where you can join our daily spiritual kickoff. You can join our community, or you can put in an application for the leadership mastermind. Or guess what? You can do all three. We're here to serve, we're here to help. Okay, guys. So look, all those different ways, open up the Bible app as well. We're on the Bible apps, I've got plenty of ways we serve you on that. But if there's any way that I can encourage you, any way that I can help you, any way that uh maybe you just need some prayer. Reach out. I'm telling you, there's nothing like for me when I look at my day and I see them stacked with meetings to jumping on with calls with guys, just to be an encouragement, be a light to them. So look, we're here, we're available, we got lots of guys around us that can walk alongside you. Maybe you're having some financial problems right now, maybe you're having some marriage problems right now. Maybe you just can't stop looking at porn and don't know what to do. Reach out. We're here. All right, guys. Have a great day. We'll see you next time. Give us a rating and review. You know what's coming right. Keep unleashing the lion within. If you're like me, you don't need another book just sitting around collecting dust. What I enjoy is something to help guide me when my feet hit the ground in the mornings. And that is why we put together Unleashing the Lion Within. It has honest stories, scripture you can apply, and simple steps to help you lead at home, at work, and everywhere in between. So if you've been feeling stuck or scattered lately, you may find this resource encouraging. Read a few pages, take one step and watch what God does with your obedience. Hey, and if reading's tough for you right now, no problem. The book is also available in Audible version. So you can listen on the go. So if this sounds interesting, check out thelion within dot us slash book or search for unleashing the lion within directly on Amazon. So there's no pressure here, just a resource that many guys are finding helpful. So grab the format that fits and take your next step.