Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1310 | The Robertsons Warn Silence About Jesus Has Consequences

Episode Date: April 13, 2026

In a culture that rewards staying quiet about religious beliefs, Jase, Al, and Zach challenge whether that kind of faith actually works. The guys reflect on Phil’s turning point after his baptism, when he chose to go public with his belief in Jesus—a decision that shaped the rest of the whole family’s lives. Jase digs deeper into what “confidence before God” means and explores the instructions the Bible leaves us about how to stand before the Lord without shame. In this episode: 1 John 4, verse 17; 1 John 2, verse 6; 1 John 3, verse 24; 1 John 5, verse 3; Ephesians 5, verses 1–2; John 7, verses 4, 13, 26; John 11, verse 14; John 16, verses 25, 29; John 18, verse 20; Hebrews 2, verse 11; Hebrews 4, verses 12–16; Romans 8, verses 1, 23, 29, 34, 37–39; Jeremiah 20, verses 8–11 “Unashamed” Episode 1310 is sponsored by: https://unashamedgold.com — Get a free 2026 Gold & Silver Guide and a no obligation consultation! https://fastgrowingtrees.com — Get 20% your first purchase when using the code UNASHAMED at checkout. https://smartcredit.com/unashamed — Get a 7-day trial for just $1, see how many points you can add to your credit score! https://myphdweightloss.com — Find out how Al lost 80+ pounds. Visit the website or call 864-644-1900 and mention "AL" to get 2 weeks free in the program! http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/ — Sign up now for free, and join the Unashamed hosts every Friday for Unashamed Academy Powered by Hillsdale College Check out At Home with Phil Robertson, nearly 800 episodes of Phil's unfiltered wisdom, humor, and biblical truth, available for free for the first time! Get it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere you listen to podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/at-home-with-phil-robertson/id1835224621 Listen to Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or anywhere you get podcasts. Chapters 00:00 Faith That Spreads Against All Odds 12:19 Going Public For Jesus 18:38 Confidently, Plainly, Publicly 27:45 Phil’s Turning Point: No More Holding Back 35:40 Boldness vs. Fear in the Real World 39:25 Why Confidence Isn’t About You 44:15 The Lie That Keeps Christians Quiet 49:30 Fighting the Current vs. Drifting — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? Welcome back to Unashamed. We just had a fantastic podcast, Jay, where you told a little bit about your experiences at the Chris Tomlin thing. I thought that was an amazing story. I didn't get a chance to say it because we're out of time, but it reminded me so much of the people we met for Larry Bowles' ministry, which was a lot of refugees. that were coming out of Syria and Iran. And these were people that were led to Christ. I mean, literally had visions of Christ and a lot of amazing things happen. But they are responsible now for this underground church. You mentioned it briefly.

Well, church is. Even the speaker that spoke that night, I tried to find his name, but since he was a surprise guest, I guess it was a surprise and I couldn't find it. But there's multiple. and multiple underground churches. And it's one of the largest growing churches on the globe. He spoke at the thing you were at.

Oh, yeah, it was a sermon. Now, it was mainly about his conversion. Was he Iranian? Oh, yeah. Yeah, he came here when he was nine years. He wants to come on the podcast, too. David Nassar. David Nassar.

I stayed at his house last week. That's him. Yep. That's him. Yep. I stayed at his house last month. small world. Bring him on. Let's hear that story. Yeah. I'm sure I'm on a bulletin board somewhere in Iran because I had the privilege of speaking to the underground churches from Athens.

Yeah, from Athens. And so, yeah, look, that's why I was so moved by it also. And it just felt global. I mean, you know, when Jesus said, go into all nations and share the good news, all the news, authority on heaven and on earth has been given me, make disciples of all nations. I mean, this is what we're doing now. That's why I brought up that 1st John 417, because to me, we didn't talk about that enough because even that word where he says, in this way, love is made complete among us so that we'll have confidence on the day of judgment. and well that word which i know we did a little word rabbit hole on the last podcast about easter

and it's frustrating to people because when i go out in public people come up and they're like why why do y'all keep going looking up all these words they didn't use english and so some of the meaning gets lost but but i get why people are so uh what is the word, anxious about that? Because I used to be, when I was a young Christian, I thought when people started talking about Greek and Hebrew, I'm like, wait a minute, now I'm not very smart. And so it feels like you're making something complex.

But look, the fact that I'm not very smart, and I've figured out how to look up the original words and just look at all the verses where they are used, and it gives you kind of a refreshing definition. of what they use because you're looking at it in context. So don't think that that's a negative thing. I think that should be a part of your Bible study package instead of looking at it like, oh, you're making it too difficult.

We had a Greek sister at WFR for all the early years when Dad was first studied in, and we were young, and we were just kind of getting ready to go to school to learn more of the Bible. But he asked her all the time. She had a Greek Bible. Yeah. And so he would be like Kula, her name was Kula. He'd say Kula, tell me what is this, you know, what is this phrase in Greek?

What is it? I mean, I remember him asking her all the time. She was like his. Dozens of times. Yeah. He would say, hey, somebody get the Greek on the phone. You know, and you're like, different Greek, though. It was a different, it was different Greek that was she spoke and what they.

It was, but she, since she was a believer, she had a, she was in the, she was in the, the right lane. Yeah. Because she was just familiar with it. But what I was going to say is I wanted, I did one on that word confidence. It's bigger than what you think. It's like, because if you just think confidence, this is one of the few places that Greek word, let me look that up.

Man, how do you say that? Paray C, they have S-E-E in all caps. So it's like par-ri-R-R-R-R-R-R-E. Ray C. Ah. That's the great word there for, yeah, but C is really highlighted. Yeah. And it's mentioned, how many times? It's mentioned 31 times.

What I found fascinating just for time is when it's used in John, because John's using it here later in years, because this is kind of a big moment. when you come face to face with God when he comes back, so whatever that word means, which is translated here, confidence, that would be a really good thing to be confident when you're standing before God.

I'm just letting the silence reach the crowd. Because sometimes you have to simplify what all we're talking about. I mean, I hate to say, this, but everyone listening to my voice right now, you're going to die. Yeah. And you're going to stand before God. So you have a verse that says there's a way to be confident. Now, it has a deeper meaning than I want to show you where John used it in John, the first

John that we studied. But man, if that's a possibility, this is a rabbit hole you need to go down. whatever that word means, I need that in my life. How do I obtain that? In this context, it's like, well, in this world, we're like him. So how do we do that? And it kind of echoes when we read in 1 John 2, where he said in verse 6, whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Well, doesn't that sound similar to in this world? world, we're like him. So he's making a point. How do you be like Jesus? So then you back up where we're at in 1 John 4 here. He's like, we know that he is in, this is chapter 3 in verse, last verse 24. Those who obey his commands, which all of the commands that he seems to be zero and in on involve love, because remember when he summed up the old law, he said, love God, love your neighbor. That sums them up. And so now it's love.

How many times, Al, in this one chapter? 27 times. 27 times. Which is why when he gets to 1st John 5, it says by loving God and carrying out his commands, the essence of the commands are trusting God and love is the fruit of it, the goal of it. So in 1st John 324, he says, those who obey his command, live in him and he and them and this is how we know that he lives in us we know it by the spirit he gave us what is the fruit of the spirit first love word look so that's why these

when I told the Iran story that I heard at the Chris Tomlin concert there were two acts of love that brought these two people under the umbrella of that family that gags there the thousands, but it was just a big Jesus family who believed Jesus is king of kings and Lord of Lords for good Friday. But it was interesting to me that in those two stories, you saw the love of God in human form. Jesus, that's the right hand of God, but now the spirit is living in them. And the life we're living is a life of love, Ephesus. five one and two. That's what it says. Live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, which is the definition of love. That's where I was going with this.

But do you want, can we do this little word on confidence real quick? Yeah, let's do it. Because I thought this was fascinating. If it wasn't interesting, I wouldn't bring this up. But when I read how the English word is used in other places, it fascinated me. So he used it three times in John chapter 7 and you remember how that how that story went the beginning of John 7

it was all about going public remember his brothers who didn't believe at that time John 7 5 that's kind of the the wall hanger verse because people go here and then they go to Acts 1 and see that his brothers are in that

inner room praying and you're like wait a minute what happened they didn't believe in John 7 five, but in Acts chapter one, in verse, I'll get this specific verse, Acts one, verse 14, Jesus's brothers are there. Well, what happened in between that they went from not believing to gather in a room pray? You know what happened to us? Eager Sunday happened. Eager Sunday. So if you've been to the grocery store lately, you don't need the news to tell you that inflation is real. The dollar doesn't stretch like it used to. Of course. And man,

everything is skyrocketing. Oh, it's crazy. I mean, it raises a real question that the money you've worked decades to save the retirement that you've built, even the legacy of you want to leave to your family, what's it actually going to buy 20 years from now? It's one of the reasons why a lot of folks are looking at ways to diversify their savings with real assets like gold, silver. And that's where Freedom Gold USA comes in because for generations, people have looked at physical gold or silver as a way to help preserve value, especially during times of inflation. Freedom gold helps people understand how physical precious metals might fit into a long-term retirement strategy. This certainly needs to be part of your plan. Their motto is simple. Get more metal for

your money, competitive pricing, no gimmicks, and specialists who focus on education, not pressure. Yeah. So what I think about leading something behind from my kids, my grandkids, it is extremely important that I have assets that hold their value over time. So right now, they're offering a free 2026 gold and silver guide and a no obligation consultation. All you've got to do is call AAA 411-1845 or visit unashamed gold.com. That's AAA 4111845 or visit unashamedgold.com. Learn how diversification may help protect your retirement savings. The dead man came back to life and then they started going backwards. And now it just wasn't that our brother got killed on a cross in an act of injustice.

Oh, no, he gave his life freely for our sins. And he's our brother. Yeah. And he came back from the dead. Isn't that just powerful? So the first time this Greek word is used in John 7 in verse 4. So look at what it says. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret.

So the public, it's translated confidence in 1 John 4 that will have confidence. Well, he uses it for going public. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world. So that's why I said that word is bigger than just confidence. it's here translated like so you're what were his brothers trying to get him to do they were trying to get him to go public it's also translated plainly like speaking plainly but in john 713 that's translated here openly or public 713 says but no one would say anything okay so there's a pattern that develops and the Jews use this word on their perspective of Jesus.

They're like, so I'll read the context, 12 and 13. Among the crowds, there was widespread whispering about him. This is why I thought this was so powerful. Jesus was doing things that were making the religious sect of the Jews nervous. But look, they were doing the opposite of confidence and openness. in public, they were whispering, saying, I know this guy, he's a good man, but I don't know.

Some said, he's a good man, but they were whispering, Jesus. This is the opposite of the feeling you want to have when you're standing before him. Like, is that you? You're looking around. But now, look how this translates to your life.

How many people do we have sitting in pews who whisper about Jesus in a church building and then go out and continue the whisper. You're not going to be confident or public when you're standing before him if you're private and whispering on earth. You see where I'm going with this? The now and the not yet doesn't apply

to a whispering shy behavior in your view of Jesus. That's why I thought this was so powerful. So they used that word, John does, in describing them, says, but no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews. And look, this is one of the reasons that two years into my faith as a 16-year-old, I realized I'm not going to be able to follow Jesus quietly. I'm not going to be able to do it. And when you put it in the context of 1st John 4, when he's using this word, this is how you stand before God. You You're confident.

You're public. You're excited. You're shouting it to the world. We meet face-to-face. I just thought it was real powerful. So the other place he uses it is in verse 26 of John 7. Here he is speaking publicly. And they are not saying a word to him.

So let me read the context. Verse 25. At that point, some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, isn't this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from.

They're whispering this. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he's from. But Jesus is doing the opposite, which is this word confident in public. He's out there speaking. So then he used it. in John 11. We know what happened in John 11.

When I was thinking, Judge, before you read that in John 9, it's interesting, the word may not appear, but the story is there. Because you remember the guy that was born blind and the disciples asked about him and then Jesus heals him. And then he goes under scrutiny by the Jewish authorities and his parents do as well. and he's like, look, I don't know who he is, but I know one thing. He, because of him, I can see. Yeah. And so I just think about that idea of confidence because, and they kicked him out of the synagogue. I mean, they basically punished him because he got his sight.

Because he didn't care. And that, look, he didn't care. He didn't care what people thought. And that's what the word means. You don't care. Oh, if you speak up about Jesus, they're going to put you in prison. Think of all those verses. Yeah.

Yep. That attitude where you don't. give a rip is the same attitude you're going to have when you stand before God. You're just brimming with confidence. So I think this is fascinating in John 11, which I'm trying to win over our crowd Unashamed Nation, which these little word studies are so powerful because you start realizing, oh, don't get hung up on the English translation because these words usually mean way more than you realize when you start looking at how they were used in other contexts.

So John 11, 14, and we're just researching this peri, verse 14. So Lazarus, remember, they're like, he's asleep. He'll get better, and Jesus had been speaking of his death. That's verse 13. That's the context. But his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So verse 14. So here's where the word is used.

So then he told them, there's our word confidently, openly. In this context, it's translated plainly, bluntly. Lazarus is dead. It makes more sense now. He just cuts to the chase. Lazarus is dead. Every time I've read that now, I think. Because Trump, you know, love him, hate him, not sure about him, whatever.

The man is blunt. Yeah. You know, he speaks confident. He speaks parapet, see out, see, I, whatever, however you ever. Ezra's dead. And for your sake, I'm glad I was not there. Which seems so kind of mean if you don't realize what he's about to do. Yeah, what the word means.

And he's just being honest and being blunt. Look, he's dead. That's not a problem. And he's going to prove that. So that you may believe, but let us go to him. I just think it brings the word to light. So then he says it again in 54 of chapter 11. Or it's used again.

54. Therefore, Jesus no longer. Okay. same thing. He has opposition that they have a plot to kill Jesus. And so from then on, he no longer moved publicly among the Jews. Not that he didn't speak, but he just did, because they were trying to kill him, and he knows he's headed toward a cross. Well, there was a script that had been prophesied and laid out, and so he was going to do it his way. So that's why he wasn't going to do it there. Exactly. So he started moving around.

He uses it twice in John 16. He uses at other places. I'm just kind of cherry-picking. I wanted to get a couple of them in here. John 16-25 says, now this is talking about pouring out the Holy Spirit in that context. And he goes through, well, look, we did multiple podcasts on John 16. So we gets 25. He says, though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming.

I will no longer use this kind of language, but will tell you plainly about my father. And so he was same kind of thing about explaining this plan of him dying, being buried, being raised, the Holy Spirit being poured out. And they're like, you know, you seem to be talking in riddles,

but they don't understand because they don't understand what he's fixed to do exactly. Remember, they just thought, well, you can't die. I remember when he told Peter and boy he he felt a tongue lash and get behind me Satan because they just didn't get it but then he says it in verse 29 again same word then Jesus disciples said now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech well that word

speaking clearly same word for being confident in the face of God and it's all clear there's there's no fog your heart is laid out there you know who he is you put your faith and trust it and in him. You're all in for Jesus. You have been invited in to participate in the divine nature that is the Godhead, the triune God. And so the last place I wanted to read is John 1820, because this is when he's being questioned by the high priest, and I love this. Verse 19. So now here he is, think about it. They're trying to pass sentence judgment on him, which is akin to what we're going to experience before God at the last day. Verse 19. Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus by his disciples and his teaching. Oh, I love this. I have spoken openly to the world.

And so when you think that word openly, same word, confidently, plainly, publicly. And so that's what we're called to be in this world now, because in this world we're like Jesus, 1st John 4, so that on the day of judgment, we will be confident. So that was my little rabbit hole on that word. Spring is right around the corner. I guess it's actually here now. and it's time to get back outside. Transform your yard with fast-growing trees.

Fast-growing trees, it's America's largest and most trusted online nursery with thousands of trees and plans to choose from over 2 million happy customers. Three of those customers right here, I had to get some new trees, and fast-growing trees sent them.

They were great. They're already in the ground. They're already thriving. I went through the whole process in less than 10 minutes. The bad thing about it was my wife all of a sudden saw the possibility

She said, we need to order some more trees. Fast green trees has over 6,000 plants to choose from, including fruit trees, privacy trees, flowering trees, shrubs, and house plants. Hey, look, whatever you're looking for, fast-grade trees, they'll help you find options that actually work for your climate, your space, your livestock. Plus, they have this thing called alive and thrive guarantee, and that means your plants will arrive happy and healthy. They have plant experts who can help you plan your landscape project. They can help you choose the right plants. They can teach you how to care for them, all the things. Fast-grained trees makes it easy to get the yard that you've always wanted.

You always been dreaming about it, and you can get it at a price that doesn't break the bank. So right now, they have great deals on spring planting essentials, up to half off on select plants and listers to our show get 20% off their first purchase when using the code Unashamed at checkout. That's an additional 20% off better plants and better growing at FastGroyingtrees.com using the code, unashamed at checkout. Fastgratingtrees.com use our code unashamed. Now is the perfect time to plant.

Let's grow together. Use unashamed to save the day. Offers valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply. And I love it. It's a great rabbit hole. And I love it that we just, in the last podcast, we're talking about, you know, Holy Week.

And like all the events that led up to that. And most of those texts that you use were centered in that time frame, which was basically Jesus going public. with why he came here, obviously. Exactly. And even up to those three years, I mean, it was a lot masked in secrecy and parables and, you know, all the things to create the interest to look at it. But all that was to set it up for the biggest moment that would ever happen in our history,

in human history, would be his going there, his dying, his being buried, his being resurrected, and his ascension. I mean, that whole thing, it's changed the world forever, right? Yeah. I will add one other thing because in acts, four when Peter, of course think of his story. Here he is, he denied him. And then Jesus reinstates him, remember, do you love me?

Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? Go feed my sheep. Jesus goes to right hand of God, pours out the spirit. Then of all people, Peter stands up. You know, he preaches. He uses that in his sermon, that same word in verse 29 of chapter 2. I may speak confidently. but in Acts 4 in verse 13, verse 29, and verse 31, it's translated boldness.

Remember that whole thing's about it? And Peter said, we're delivering the word with boldness and all boldness, the Word of God with boldness. They observed the boldness of Peter. That's Acts 413. So that is the word, and that is it lived out in the way I think John, John, was trying to get the believers to see, which in a weird way trickles down to us. We do it now, and so that we have it then when we stand before him. It's a bold, public, living, speaking, loving like Jesus.

You know, and it's interesting, yeah, because John was with Peter in that Acts story. Remember in Acts 3? They're coming into the temple, and they hear. the guy and then that starts a ruckus and then you get into chapter four and and peter steps up again just like he did in acts two and defends the faith and now he's doing it to these jewish lesion remember he says it doesn't matter what you do to it because remember they threatened to beat them and they threatened to do then they did beat them and they threatened all these things he said no matter what you do we're not going to stop and and they and so they just let them go i mean they just

thought, well, you know, and finally one guy stepped, the gamael, I think, was the one that stepped up and said, look, if this is from God, we can't stop him anyway. Yeah. So just let it fizzle, but it didn't fizzle. And so here John is writing about it all this time later. It reminded me, Jason, we've told the story before I won't tell it again,

but about the first time, because I tell it a lot when I go speak, about living unashamed, about the first time I remember dad doing it at the Superdome, you know, like in a duck call setting, because he used to do the duck call speeches like at the DU banquets.

But he pretty much just stuck to the script. They were drunk anyway. Most of the time they were raising money at these things. But that time at the Superdome, he went public. I mean, like he did just, he used that Greek word you're talking about, the parisia. He did it in a public way and immediately got like backlash from the guy that was with us, the duck call guy. You know, the cell of duck calls. And he was like, Phil, you can't do that.

And dad's like, oh, no. this is how we're going now. And that day, he says, Dad says, that a couple of people came up and whispered, speaking of your whisper, he said, it was a couple of pastors. They came up and whispered. Phil, we're with you on that. That was so good. Would you come do that at our church? And he says that's when his like public ministry began of just being a defender of the faith. And it came just because he went public in a setting where you didn't normally do that. And the reward for him was that he got to do it for the rest of his life. Well, it's funny because one time I had a confrontation with some

a group of leaders. And when I walked out, it was pretty hard confrontation. And I was a little nervous to do it. One of the leaders came out of the meeting and he looks at it. And he goes, and he whispers, behind you 100%. It gives me the thumbs up. And I'm like, why did you say anything? He was sitting that meeting in there.

It's like, okay, you're not, you're behind me, but you did not want to have any skills. He's way behind. But, you know, it's interesting, though, on this idea of confidence that it's all throughout the book of Hebrews, by the way. And I was thinking about the difference between, like, you had mentioned Trump earlier, and he comes out with the vibrato and the confidence. And so, like, Phil, it is a different type of confidence that Phil had, because Phil's confidence was anchored. in who Christ is. And I think that's a, when we think about, like,

how do we have confidence as Christians? It's not confidence in our own ability, our confidence in the power of our military, or confidence in whatever power you think you have. The actual confidence. Bank account. Yeah, it's not in that. And that's why, like, you, like, if you read Hebrews 4,

it talks about, like, entering into, like, this rest. And then in Hebrews 5, it talks about kind of coming in with confidence. But when you read it, you're kind of like, well, am I going to, like he says, let us strive to enter that rest. And he talks about this sword of God that's the word. It's a living. It's active. It's sharper than any double-edged sword.

Piercing to the division of soul and spirit, joints, marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart, no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him whom we must give an account. And it just goes on and you think, well, how in the world? world can you then just say just a few verses later for me to have confidence and enter into some kind of confidence to the throne i'm like i don't understand that and i think the confidence is like because that's that same picture in revelation one of christ post resurrection that john on the alpapatmos has you can't enter in with your own confidence in that setting because god is too glorious

but when God reaches down, when that sovereign king, when that son of man reaches down and touches your shoulder and says, don't be afraid. Now I can have confidence. Not because of me, because of him. So when Phil steps into that setting and the Superdome, it really was a key moment.

I don't know what shifted in. He's always been a confident guy, but something in there was like, my confidence is in that Bible that's sitting right there inside that bag where I put my duck calls. He's looking at the word of God. and he's thinking, that's where the confidence is at. And so when he pulls that sword out, when he pulls the word out,

and he gives it to this group of men, I think what they experienced there was not the confidence of Phil Robertson. It was the confidence of Phil Robertson that he had in Christ, and that was the power. So then you go back to the whole premise of this podcast being unashamed. It's not because, you know, we're so great. And we're not afraid of anybody. It's not that.

We're not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power. Not our own like willpower, not our own like character, not our own, you know, moral compass. Our hope is in the gospel of Christ for it is the power of salvation for everyone who believes first in the Gentile. To your point, he says that so clearly the Hebrew writer does in Hebrews to 11, just what you said, He says, both the one who is holy and who makes men holy is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. And so that's the way we can live the unashamed life. And the reason we do it is because he's unashamed of us. And it's back to the quid pro quo in 1st John about love.

The only reason we have the capacity to love is because he first loved us and showed us that love and that opportunity. And when you embrace that, it changes everything. Right. And for a guy, for me, as I was standing there as a brand new Christian and just come back to faith, I'm back in the old place where I was living for the devil. And to see that go public, I mean, that triggered something in my heart that's been there ever since. I mean, it changed me. And so that's the thing about this confidence, Jay. It only changes you, but it changes other people. Because when that blaze itself out, it's an impact. It's huge. So if you're looking to refinance, buy a new car, rent an apartment, anything that depends on your credit, trust me, you want your score to be as strong as possible and you want it now.

And this is what you need. You need smart credit. I actually use this every month. Your credit score may have taken a big hit over the holidays and you may not even know it. Sure, the late payments hurt, but so does opening a store credit card just to get that discount that you tried to get over the holidays and transferring a balance from one car to another. That can also drop your score really fast. So smart credit is the new science and credit scoring with data experts who understand how credit bureaus operate. Smart credit builds a personalized strategy designed to take action and maximize your score.

Not by a few points in a few months, but potentially see a real upward change to secure better rates on everything that you finance. Better scores means faster approvals, lower payments, and more money in your pocket. So don't let the holiday spending traps derail your entire year. Get ahead of it now with smart credit. I've been using smart credit for a while, and I noticed that anytime there's a change in my credit score, I know about it, and I do what I do what I need to do to fix it. So you two can have great credit. Go to smartcredit.com slash unashamed and start your seven-day trial for just $1.

Your results will depend on your unique credit profile, but I think you're going to be excited to see how many points smart credit estimates you can gain. Results are not guaranteed. You can cancel it any time. That's smartcredit.com slash unashamed. Smartcredit.com slash unashamed. And I get so frustrated when people categorize sharing Jesus. You know, they invented a word that comes from the Bible. But they say, well, that's evangelism, you know, that only a few people do.

And I'm like, who, evangelist? But as believers in Christ, what made me think while y'all were talking is all these verses about, put on the full armor of God. But it's not just the armor he's given you. He is the warrior. Yeah. You're with the warrior. You know, we're talking about the armor.

Like, these are things we have to put on. He's like, no, I'm right there beside you. And I'll give you an example of this. Jeremiah got this before Jesus died and was buried and resurrected. You know, here's a guy who, if you read the whole book of Jeremiah, you'll figure out the man preached about 40 years and all he got was heartache. And in so. No response.

No response. Yeah, I mean, just ridicule. But there's a passage, Al. I think this was the first verse we memorized when we went to Bible school. And I never forgot it. But I just want to read this segment. It was our theme verse. Well, I want to read the context.

Because look, Jeremiah 20 in verse 8, he says, Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. Because he's telling his neighbors, like, look, what you're doing is going to result in death. It is not going to be good for you. And he says, so the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. He's like, I'm going out there, giving the word of the Lord. And you know what I'm getting insult and reproach?

Because why? He's doing it publicly or this wouldn't be happening. But then he says this, but if I say I will not mention him or speak any more in his name, name. His word is in my heart like a fire. A fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in. Indeed, I cannot. But I wish we hadn't stopped there because we memorized that verse. Because look at the next verse. I hear many whispering, tear on every side, report him, let's report him. All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, perhaps he will be deceived. we will prevail over him and take a revenge on him.

But watch what he says in verse 11. But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior. So my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgrace. Their dishonor will never be forgotten. Which implies one day they're going to stand before God. Yep. And he's going to say, hey, you remember my servant, Jeremiah,

remember when he was talking and you kept ridiculet? I mean, I know these conversations are going to be had. Well, you should have listened. Because here I am. Meanwhile, Jeremiah, I'm confident, will be confident when he stands before God, despite all the misery that was happening to him every day. And he even pointed ahead in Jeremiah 31. to the new covenant, you know, which gets quoted by the Hebrew writer as well, that, I mean, he saw it.

Jeremiah saw it. He knew. He knew that the Messiah was coming. He knew that God was going to come in flesh. He knew it all, even way back then. And that's why he was confident enough to spend a whole life preaching, and people just ridiculed him the whole time he was doing it. Yeah. Well, now after we've gone down through that rabbit hole, it makes more sense why John said right after that in 1st John 4, there's no fear in love. Yeah. You see what, because that word confident means way more. It's you go in public.

You're just unashamed. And so here's the evil one who tries to get you to shut your mouth because of your fear of death, which is Hebrews 214, which I seemingly read every podcast. But it's the whole reason God became a human is to destroy that threat that the evil one uses to shut people up and make them timid and afraid. It's kind of a totally different context. And I think that's what he's conveying here, that we just can't help it because God's love is so powerful.

We're so mesmerized by it that it just has to facilitate itself through us to other people. And you're not going to be able to love quietly. Just can't do it because people are too messy. No, and I like, go ahead, Zad. I mean, I think that if you go back to the Hebrews and think about it, that's such a good picture of it, that the case of Hebrews is making on competences, he's actually setting up profound insecurity at first. He's like, let me walk you through the way that things currently set up, at least in your mind to someone who is under Judaism. them. And it's a systematic argument that shows the weakness of the entire system in that it's

only, the only thing that it can actually do for you is to highlight how sinful you are. But the Hebrew writer goes on to say that it's impossible, impossible for the blood of goats and bulls to take away sins. It can't happen. It's an annual reminder of your sin, but it's impossible for it to actually take away your sin. And if you just run the logic out, you're like, yeah, that does some kind of stupid that I could sacrifice some animal and that's going to pay for what I've done? Of course not. And so it builds that out. It builds up things like, oh, let's talk about your priest, by the way. You know, the priest that goes and offers atonement for you, well, he's got his own issues. And he's got to go make atonement for his sins before he

can even make atonement for your sins. And he's got to do it every single, you know, on Yom Kippur. And it just goes down the whole thing of like this argument of how this is such an insufficient way. And so it builds out the insecurity, which will be the lack of confidence. And then to your point, Jase, you said, what you said something, there's no fear in love, well, introduce Christ who through his flesh. And this is what the text says.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us to the curtain. That's that veil into the Holy of Holies, to the curtain, that is through his flesh. That's why when you read First John and second John, it talks about the Antichrist being anyone who does not acknowledge that Christ came in the flesh, because it actually, if you don't acknowledge it, he came in the flesh,

well, then there actually wasn't a veil that was torn, and we have no way back into the Holy of Holies, since we have now, though, a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance. This is the confidence you're talking about of faith, with our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. And then it says, let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful and let us consider how to stir one another up. to guess what? Love and good works. There's no fear in love. Christ in love offers his body as a sacrifice. Through his body, the veil is torn, and now we enter into the holy place through love. So law is fulfilled with love, and that's the whole kind of point of the book of Hebrews, and therefore now we can have confidence. So I know many of you feel like no matter how much you eat, the scale just doesn't budge for you. And I was certainly they, And it's not that you're lazy or failing. Sometimes your body just goes into survival mode.

You've probably heard about the popular GLP1 drugs that are out there. And for some people, they've helped. But they really don't address why your body started storing fat in the first place. There's a smarter way to get your body back on track, and it actually works. I am a product of that. Ph.D. weight loss. They treat unwanted weight as a symptom, a signal that your metabolism, your hormones, your stress response, they all need attention.

You fix those, the weight comes off naturally. And here's the key. It stays off. I'm a year and a half into this program. Now, here's a picture of me at the beginning. And you'll see not only did I lose the 80 pounds that I set out to lose, but I've kept it off. And that's the most important part. Other diets and programs that you've tried may not have done that for you.

They didn't do it for me. Ph.D. weight loss has. And it's been great. I'm off my meds. I'm healthier than I've been probably in two decades. Right now, you can call PhD weight. weight loss and mention Al. You'll get two free weeks in the program and they'll pay for your food. That's a $1,500 value completely free. Call 864-644-1900 now and mention Al. That's 864-644-9100.

Or you can go to my PhD weight loss.com. No more guessing, no more short-term fixes, just a smarter way forward. Well, now I want to do this grid, this same grid that we're doing from First John 4. If you go to Romans 8, I mean, we just had Eager day, and you think, what is one of the opposites of confidence or this word which is bigger? And I would argue that condemnation is on the opposite end of the spectrum. Because then there you have shame, guilt. So Romans 8 starts out, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. because through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of Life has set me free from the law of sin and death. But look, watch how that moves to where he goes, where John goes in 1, John 4 about having confidence,

because in this world we're like him and will be confident when we stand before God. He goes to the eager verses where he says the whole creation is waiting for the freedom of its bondage decay to see the sons of God, revealed. Then it goes to our eagerness about the redemption of our bodies in verse where was that at? 23.

We grow, we wait, we wait, okay. Then it starts talking about our prayer life because now you have access to God. You can be confident because that relationship has been repaired. So, all

He's cleaned you up for free. There's no condemnation. He lives in us through his spirit. But look, then he moves to our vocation about living now like Jesus because when he gets to verse 29, he says, for those God for new, he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son. Well, that's exactly what 1st John 417 says. In this world, we're like him.

Yeah. So then where does it go? Well, then it goes to there's no fear in love when you go to verse 34. Who is it that condemns Christ Jesus, who died more than that, who has raised, the life is at the right hand of God, and is also interceding for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword. When people read this, it's like, well, I'm not going.

I'm not having all that stuff happen in my walk with Jesus. Well, maybe you're doing it too quietly. Maybe you need to get that whisper up. If you start living like Jesus in this world, trust me, I'm a living example. They're coming. They're going to rain down insult, persecution, hardship, threats, bullets, and everything else, which has happened in our family's life. And it's just part of it.

And I mean, I'm saying this grid works. And in fact, when he gets to verse 37 and says, no, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Early sounds like where John is going in 1 John 5 when he says, verse 3, this is love for God to obey his command. His commands are not burdensome because they're all about love. for everyone born of God overcomes the world sounds early similar to more than conquerors and what are we we're over

overcoming the world in love this is the victory that has overcome the world even our faith who is it that overcomes the world only he believes that Jesus is the son of God which echoes our whole definition of that word confident

remember when he was using it about he who comes to me and believes and goes public. Which is exactly why then he closes, Jay's, for I am convinced that neither death nor life, so it doesn't matter that we die, neither angels nor demons. Oh, we're so afraid of these beings and Satan shouldn't be.

Neither the present nor the future, all these people looking at end times, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Yeah. Well, my point is, Theologically, which, you know,

we don't get down into the roots of that because people start yawning. But Romans 8, it's like he talks about, yes, the not yet part, us being resurrected, getting new bodies. But when he gets to that, start talking about our prayer life in the middle of Romans 8,

all of a sudden he gets to now. we're supposed to be conformed to Jesus' likeness. We're praying to God and the Spirit is helping us with words that we can't understand. And then all of a sudden he starts talking about trouble and hardship. Well, that's talking about now. He then goes to our lifestyle. And I feel like, theoretically, that's missed because people think, oh, that's all about a future occurrence.

But Paul makes that segue into you not being separated right now. from the love of Christ as you walk unashamedly in this world, conquering one obstacle after another. No, it's so good. And you mentioned earlier about the armor. He does the same thing there in Ephesion 6, because he goes into all that about the armor and about these forces that attempt to attack us in the now,

but then he closes that whole section days with three verses about prayer. Remember? I mean, like he goes through all the days, different things, but his big selling point is, here's what you got that's going to help you in the now. You've got this opportunity, the Holy Spirit, to speak into the trying God as you're going through this life. I mean, that's huge. I mean, that's a huge weapon for us, you know? Well, I just think that's why I want to bring up Jeremiah, because we all get in these situations where I do many worldly events and I get up, I share Jesus, and look, opposition happens.

think you have to be reminded, Jeremiah, are we with a mighty warrior or are we not? Yeah. It just gets lost, I think, in the way we live our life. And love supernaturally and spirit-led is linked to this love in John's writing. That's what's so beautiful about this. He's like, whoever, you know, the verse before 1 John 417 is all talking about us living in him. And then you have confidence. You have this aura, this boldness, this public just, you can't help it.

It's a fire that's in you that must be declared. But it's eerily linked to life itself. We're the ones on the side that get to live forever, which is so crazy when you think about it. It made me think about a weird fishing illustration. You know, me and my dad, and I guess you were a part of it too, but I was more in the the thinking part of this. I was so amazed the first time my dad put out hoop nets in the river

because I thought, well, if we're going to catch fish and look, everybody I've ever taken to the river and showed them how I do the hoop nets, you know what the first thing they say is? They're like, well, shouldn't the mouth of the net be where the current's flowing into it? That's what you would think. You're trying to catch fish,

so the current is blowing. Well, you would think, you would want to catch everything that's going down. Yeah. But guess what? If you did that, you only catch things that are dead. Like any kind of floating thing coming down

that has no power to swim up the current, you're just catching. And there's a famous spiritual quote from somebody. That's like, what is it the difference in something floating down is going with the current? But if it's alive, it can swim against the current.

And so you put your nets the opposite of what you think, because all the dead stuff gets stuck not in the net, but the fish swim up the current because they're alive and they're able to swim, and they'll go in the net. And so it's the difference in being alive and dead. But you can honestly see the practical implication of that. We don't swim with the current of the world because everybody's dead. We're swimming into the current and we can go both ways because we're alive.

And so we're telling everybody, don't be dead. You're just floating down a roaring torrent and you're banging up against the bank or anything that comes along the way. And that's what I think is so beautiful about the way John wrote this with having love and light the truth. and life, like all interconnecting. This, at the end of the day, it's about living forever with a being who's eternal. What are we ashamed of? And the Greek word there for life, Jay, in this context, is Zoe. And again, it's bigger than just life.

It's kind of like you were talking about with confidence. It's a bigger life than just thinking about, you know, I'm going to be born and I'm going to die. This is so much bigger. which is what we're trying to convey on the podcast. We're out of time yet again. But we'll dive back in next time on Unashamed. Thanks for listening to The Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast.

And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.