How to live
A Good Life As A Christian
How Do I Live the Authentic Christian Life? // Ask Pastor John
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passage on over the years you have
referred to the acronym apt at ap ta T
in your books and sermons and your
classes he's been with you for a long
time and it seems to be central to your
understanding of how the Christian life
should be lived each day and I know a
lot of our listeners have probably never
heard you explain apt at and why it's so
important so today introduce it to us
and explain the the big issue that it
addresses for you okay here's the big
issue how do you go about living the
Christian life in such a way that you
are actually doing the living doing the
acting doing the Willing and yet Christ
or the Holy Spirit is decisively doing
the living and doing the acting and
doing the willing in and through your
acting and willing and doing that's the
key issue it seems to me of the
Christian life that's the way Paul says
he lived and and he means for us to live
that way he says 1st Corinthians 15:10
by the grace of God I am what I am and
His grace toward me was not in vain on
the contrary I worked harder than any of
them though it was not i but the grace
of God that was with me now my question
is and I think everyone listening to me
right now should ask how do I do that
how do how do I work hard and yet be
able to say when I'm done God's grace
was the worker in and through me
now that's what apt at apt 80 an acronym
is intended to answer or to put it
another way how do you obey Philippians
2:12 work out your salvation with fear
and trembling for God is the one
at work in you what are the strategies
that we take to make sure we can say
that with integrity about our Christian
life or to put it another way how do you
serve others in a strength that isn't
your own first Peter 4:11 whoever serves
let him serve as by the strength that
God supplies how do you do that or
Romans 8:13 by the spirit put to death
the deeds of the body so how do you put
to death the deeds of the body yes you
put to death the deeds of the body the
sinful deeds and you do it by the spirit
now what does that mean how do you do it
that's that's what I'm trying to get at
or Galatians 5:16 walk by the spirit
5:18 be led by the spirit 5:20 to bear
the fruit of the Spirit 5:25 keep in
step with the spirit so my answer to all
of that is apt act it's what I did
hundreds of times sitting on the front
pew in the sanctuary two minutes before
I'm supposed to preach and I did act it
I walked through app tete in my heart
because when I stood behind that pulpit
I wanted to preach by the spirit
I wanted to preach in the strength that
God supplies I wanted to preach in a way
so that I could say not i but the grace
of God that was with me I didn't want to
get up there and do nothing it's my job
I'm supposed to preach I must preach and
yet the devil can preach people can
preach without the Holy Spirit but
that's not the Christian life okay so
there it is apt at a PTA T each of those
letters stands for an action that I take
and you can do this in one minute before
you face some challenge so a
admit I admit that without Christ I can
do nothing John 15:5 I'm the vine you
are the branches whoever abides in me
and I in him he it is that bears much
fruit for apart from me you John Piper
can do nothing
so I admit that I say that I believe
that I am helpless to do anything of any
significance any eternal value any
spiritual worth whatsoever in any way
without Christ P I pray
of course you pray right if you admit
you can do nothing you you oh god help
help me ask and you will receive jesus
said you do not have because you do not
ask James for to call on me in the day
of trouble some fifty fifteen so i asked
the lord i sat there on the pew and i
asked the Lord for freedom from
self-consciousness give me liberty give
me memory
give me authentic emotion protect me
from error don't want to mislead these
people give me a prophetic anointing so
that words come to my mind that are
miraculously penetrating and and
liberating and saving and purifying and
embolden informed of that to happen by
the Holy Spirit so I'm asking for it
T apt I trust a specific promise I think
this is right at the heart of the matter
I trust a specific promise that God has
tailor-made it might not be just a
preaching situation it might be a
financial situation or sexual temptation
or you name it
I need a specific promise to believe
right now because I just I want to trust
him and I don't want to just trust in
general I want to trust that he promised
to do something for me
so I might say generally I am your God I
will strengthen you I will help you I
will uphold you I use that one I've used
that good night in the last 40 years
thousand times ever as I faced
challenges in my life I will help you I
will strengthen you that's Isaiah 41:10
I will make all
grace abound to you second corinthians
9:8
i am your god i'll supply every need
Philippians 4:19 or in preaching I might
say my word will not come back to me
empty John Piper Isaiah 55 it is not you
who speak but the Holy Spirit who speaks
through you in Matthew 24 so I take a
promise and I trust it I consciously
preach it to myself and put my faith in
it so apt a I act act in obedience to
God's Word expecting God to act under
and in and through my acting so that it
is decisively his acting we act the
miracle we did a whole conference on
this and wrote a whole book about it
called act the miracle in fact my book
future grace is just nothing but an
unpacking you might say of app tad so
act work out your salvation Philippians
2 I worked harder than any of them
first Corinthians 15:5 I now live in the
flesh by the faith of the Son of God
galatians 2:20 put to death the deeds of
the body you by the spirit so we do the
acting we are the act or and God is the
miracle maker so APTA
and then finally when I'm done I sit
down I thank him t-thank I thank God for
whatever good comes I thank him and I
give him give and go give thanks always
Ephesians 5:20 but the key the key the
fulcrum in this sequence where
everything hangs I think is that point
of trust yeah
trusting God's promised help future
grace for the next five seconds or five
minutes or five hours it's it's called
living by faith in future grace it's
called God will help you I will help you
I will strengthen you I'll meet every
need and you trust him for that that's
that's app tap and that's what I think
it means to live by the spirit and walk
by faith and by the spirit and work out
your salvation and act
miracle of the Christian life and I just
say one last thing I was thrilled he I
don't know how many years ago this was
maybe 15 years ago cuz I've been doing
apt at for 35 years plus I was thrilled
on page 126 of J I Packer keep in step
with the spirit to find these exact
steps I mean it was uncanny if you go to
the top of page 126 anybody and look at
how he describes Augustinian
sanctification that's he gives apt
netted I just came out of my chair you
know he doesn't use the the acronym but
the steps are all there in sequence so I
was I just say that at the end here lest
anybody think this is kind of a quirky
quirky Piper thing but it I think it's
just biblical through and through and
it's one of the most central and
important discoveries I've ever made how
do you walk by the spirit confirmed by
Augustine and J I Packer that's
beautiful and deeply helpful and
practical thank you Pastor John these
are the types of practical questions
that we address in the podcast every
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entire archive of episodes that we have
on hand well next time we hear from
listener who is burned out who finds
life to be an unceasing grind and who
wants pastor John to give him
perspective to keep them going I'm your
host Tony ranky and I'll see you
tomorrow on the ass Pastor John podcast
you
