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Real Faith: Real Faith Stands Firm in the Truth
March 2, 2026 · 29 min
Drawing from his candid teaching on Jesus' desert temptations, Pastor John offers practical wisdom for resisting temptation and spotting false teaching.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton March 2, 2026 · 29 min · "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton
Drawing from his candid teaching on Jesus' desert temptations, Pastor John offers practical wisdom for resisting temptation and spotting false teaching. ...more Show the full description Show less Drawing from his candid teaching on Jesus' desert temptations, Pastor John offers practical wisdom for resisting temptation and spotting false teaching.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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Remembering Your Identity in Christ 0:00 Glad you're in God's house today? Yes. Amen. I love that. Already had a great service and time of prayer. If you're new here or new in the room, back early this early this last month, we0:11 started a brand new series, entitled Real Faith. I've got the shirt. If you don't have 1, be sure you get 1. And we talked about real faith as a faith that shows up every day. Real faith doesn't just show up0:23 on Sunday mornings or just on Sundays or even during the message, or during, the worship. Real faith shows up every day. And we talk, we're looking at the book of first John, we're going verse by0:35 verse, chapter by chapter, just working through, the book of first John. And I told you a little bit about John, which means there's hope for all of us. John was a hot headed commercial fisherman that at 10:47 point, wanted to call down fire from heaven, destroy a whole Samaritan village because he felt like they didn't throw out the welcome mat for Jesus. But that guy went from being a0:59 hot headed commercial fisherman to being the disciple that Jesus loved because of God's transformation in his life. So what does that mean? That means there's hope for all of us, right?1:11 Hey, right now, just look at the person to your left or right and just say, there's even hope for you.1:23 Now, now let me just tell you, if they said it with a smile on their face, they don't believe it. They don't believe there's hope for you at all. Now, that means there's hope for all of us. Now, as we reflect back on1:35 where we've been, week number 1, John said real faith walks in the light. Week number 2, says that real faith deals honestly with sin. Number 3 is today,1:47 the third 1 is this, that we stand firm in our faith. That when we are shaken, when someone teaches something that is wrong, we will stand firm in our faith. So let's do a quick review. First John1:59 chapter 1 verse 7 was the first week and here it is, real faith walks in the light. I love what John says, but if we walk in the light, everybody say the light. He is in the light, God is in the light, and we2:11 have fellowship with 1 another. Now notice fellowship with 1 another. Real faith is not isolated. Real faith is not alone. Salvation is a personal decision to have faith in Jesus2:22 Christ, but then we walk out our faith in fellowship with other brothers and sisters in the church together. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, purifies us from all2:34 of our sin. That's salvation and that's eternal life. So, that was week 1, real faith walks in the light. Week 2, real faith deals honestly with sin. None of us are perfect. And so, here's2:46 what we saw, first John chapter 1 verse 9. If we confess our sins, real faith doesn't deny sin, it confesses it and asks for forgiveness. He, now notice,2:58 if we confess our imperfection, our sin, God does the rest. God is faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins and purify us from all3:10 unrighteousness. So listen, we confess our sins, God is faithful, God is just, God forgives. You say pastor, how does he do that? Well let's look. First John chapter 2 verse 1, how does God forgive3:22 us? John tells us. He says, my dear little children, I write this to you so that you will not sin or may not sin. So we all understand that the goal of the believer3:34 is to live a sinless life. Once we're forgiven, we're not to simply say now I can sin like crazy, may grace abound. He says no, our goal ought to be as we grow in our faith, that we3:46 ought to try more and more to set aside those sins that easily beset us or cause us to stumble. He says, So listen, I write that you may not sin or will not sin, but3:58 if anyone does, and we do, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous 1. He says, listen, real faith takes sin seriously, but the good news is4:10 we have an advocate with the father who is Jesus Christ the righteous. Why is that so important? Because he, Jesus, is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, all of our4:22 sins, but not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the entire world. Now, that doesn't mean universal salvation. It means universal opportunity. That when4:34 Jesus died on the cross, that created an opportunity for anyone in the world to simply receive Jesus Christ as Lord and make him the Lord of our life. So,4:46 Christ's death on the cross was good, John says, for our sins, but also for the sins of the world. That's why you always want to be looking to reach your neighbor, someone at school, someone you work with. That's why4:57 we're passionate about missions that we would go around the world sharing the gospel so those would have so those people would have an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as savior, lord, and the forgiveness5:09 of sins. And then today, real faith stands firm in the faith, alright? Where do you see this? Here's the key verse. This is today. As for you, everybody say that's us.5:22 See that what you have heard or been taught from the beginning remains in you. So he's saying listen, don't ever trade the truth5:33 for a trend. Alright? Don't drift from God's word. We want to stand firm and remain in you, and then it says, and if it does, you also will remain in the5:45 son and the father in you. Alright, so you say, Pastor, I want to have a real faith that what first of all understands who I am, but I want a faith that I can stand firm5:57 in. So we're just gonna walk through verses 12 to 27. I'm gonna give you 3 or 4 ways that we can stand firm in our faith. The first way is you very clearly have to remember your6:09 identity and where it comes from. Your identity and where it comes from. Let me show you in scripture. Verse 12. John says, I'm writing to you, dear children, because your sins6:21 have been forgiven on account of his name. So let me just stop you right there. As we think about your identity, I always want you to remember this. Your6:32 identity in Christ is based on God's forgiveness of you, not your performance. Do you get the difference? Your identity in Christ is6:44 based on the fact that God forgave you, brought you into his family. Your identity in Christ is never based on performance. You say, why is that so important? Well, if I6:56 think I performed well enough to receive or gain salvation, then I have an identity in Christ. But what happens when my performance fails or my performance falls?7:08 Then I begin to question my identity in Christ. Does that make sense? So, I want you to know your identity is based on what God did for you, not what you did for God. Does that make sense? So, we all have to understand7:19 that. That's right. Identity is based on forgiveness, not performance. Now let's read on. He says, I am writing to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning. That's spiritual maturity.7:31 It's knowing God. It's not just knowing a bunch of facts about God, but it's actually knowing God. He says, I'm also writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil 1. I write to you my dear children because7:43 you know the father. I love that idea. Remember, my identity in Christ is based on forgiveness, not performance. When I'm forgiven, I become part of God's family.7:56 But it also says as part of God's family, when you are saved, you are saved eternally. You are not put on spiritual probation. When God saves you, when you accept8:08 Jesus Christ as savior and lord, and you say I'm a sinner, my sins separated me from you, I received Jesus as my savior and lord, and I accept him as my savior and lord. God doesn't say great you're saved, but you're on8:19 spiritual probation. And the next time you do something wrong I'm gonna jerk your salvation. He goes, no. Once you are saved, your identity means you are now part of God's8:32 forever family. That's That's why it's so important that we would always understand identity is based on forgiveness, not performance. Let's read on. He says, I write to you, my dear children, because you know the8:43 father. That's your family. I write to you, fathers, because you know who know him who is from the very beginning. Talking about Jesus. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God8:55 lives in you. Notice where the strength comes from. The word of God living in you. That's 1 of the reasons that we, with every series, have another Bible reading plan that goes along with9:07 it. That's why every time I stand up here or anyone else stands up here on a Sunday morning, we're gonna dump God's word in you. Why? Because notice what he says, You are strong because the word of God9:19 lives in you and you have overcome the evil 1. Let me just show you this identity in a couple quick verses. We're gonna roll through these quickly. Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17, here's your identity in9:31 Christ. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation is come, the old is gone, and the new is here. Salvation9:43 is not God putting lipstick on a pig. Did you get it? Your salvation is a move that bus moment. How9:55 many of you remember that show? They didn't go in and just put a little paint on the old house. They renovated, they'd take care of it, they'd put in new cabinets, they'd put in new tile, they'd put10:07 in new fixtures, and then all of a sudden that family's standing there and they all cheer move that bus. Your salvation is a move that bus moment. That God comes into you and makes you10:18 totally brand new. Forgiven and part of God's forever family. Don't ever forget that. Alright, let me show it to you again. First John, first Peter chapter 2 verse 9. He says, not10:30 only are you in the family, he says, but you are a chosen people. You might feel average today, but God says you're10:42 chosen. You're way above average, because God looked at you and chose you. But he doesn't stop there. Not only are you a chosen people, look at our dignity,10:54 we are a royal priesthood. We are set apart. We are a holy nation. We are God's special possession. That means belonging. That you so here's our purpose. Who are we? Our identity.11:06 Chosen people, royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession. I love that. That we would do what? That we would declare the praises of him who called us out of11:18 darkness and into his wonderful light. I mean, when I put all of those together, God is simply saying none of you came from the spiritual clearance rack.11:32 God didn't look down and go, yeah, for a buck, I'll take that 1. You are royal inventory, folks,11:44 that God says you're mine, and you are top shelf because it's not based on performance, it's based on forgiveness. Does that do you11:56 get that? I mean, you aren't spiritually marginalized. God says no, you are chosen. You are mine. You belong to me, and I celebrate you. And, here's the 1 we'll go away with, Romans chapter 8 verse 1. As we think about12:08 our identity. Therefore, there is now, everybody say now. No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. None.12:20 How many of you, honestly, when you think back, some of the best music, your favorite music was sung a decade or 2 decades or 3 decades ago. Yeah, I know. Best music, eighties rock, right?12:32 What happens as we age? We still love some of that same music, right? And so what do we do? We don't go buy every album. We go buy the greatest hits. How many of us do that, right?12:44 Because every album that came out might have 10, 15 songs on it. Maybe 2 or 3 were good. So if you merge those up, make it a greatest hits. Alright? And then we play it over and over and over again. You say, that's12:55 awesome pastor, that's what I do when I work out at Lifetime. I play it over and over and over again. When I go get on the boat, my kids immediately say, we've got the playlist dad. And I say, I got 1. They go, we've13:06 heard those songs. Alright? But here's what I'm saying. Sometimes Satan shows up in your life and plays over and over13:18 and over again your greatest failures. And every time you put your head on your pillow, you go. It's just over and over13:30 and over again. Can I tell you? God wants to play your greatest hits, not your greatest failures. There is now13:42 therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ. So next time you begin to just hear Satan play in your greatest failure, how could you have done that? Why did you do that? Notice how many13:53 people you hurt. You just say there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. So, thought number 1, stand firm in your faith. You gotta know your identity. Here's number 2. You gotta reject the world's pull.14:04 Let's just continue to read it. I'll show it to you. Verse 15, John says do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in them.Rejecting the World's Temptations 14:16 Now we're gonna start talking about temptation. It is not a sin to be tempted and I'll show you that here in a second. For everything in the world, notice these 3 things, the 3 ways we're tempted in this world. The lust14:27 of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life comes not from the Father, but from the world. Where does temptation come? 3 directions, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of14:39 life. The world and its desires pass away, alright, but whoever does the will of the father lives forever. Now, let me show you this temptation, alright?14:51 Here's what we have. 3 ways the world tempts you are also exactly the same 3 ways. You can go read this in Luke chapter 4 where Satan the devil showed up and tempted Jesus. In Luke15:03 chapter 4, we're told that Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit. He has gone out into the wilderness to pray, and he is fasting, getting ready to serve God. His public ministry is about to start.15:15 What happens, Satan shows up and tempts him in those same 3 ways. First of all, remember Jesus was fasting. And so, Satan shows up and tempts him with his appetite. I15:27 don't know about you, but anytime I even talk about fasting, I get hungry. Am I the only 1? I mean, everybody in here, all of a sudden your stomach started growling, right? Alright, so he's fasting for 4015:39 days. Satan shows up, tempts him with his appetite. He goes, I know you're hungry. See those stones there? Turn them into bread, you'll have plenty to eat. That's the temptation, right? That I want to15:51 feed my fleshly appetite. And remember what Jesus did, responded with God's word. He said man does not live by bread alone. So, Satan left, right?16:03 No. It's not over. There's another way you can tempt him and it's called ambition. Alright? Ambition, the lust of the eyes. Man, what do I want to see? And I love this. So Satan looks over16:15 this and says, alright Jesus, I got an idea for you. I will give you all of these kingdoms if you will just simply bow the knee to me. You know what he was essentially saying? Hey, you know, if you will16:27 just bow to me, you could skip the cross. You don't have to wait for the crown. The crown I give you won't be a crown of thorns. It'll be an earthly crown and all these kingdoms16:38 will be you, yours. And what did Jesus say? Scripture says, worship and serve the Lord God only, Not me. So16:50 Satan's done, right? No. No. No. Satan says, well let's let's check his pride out, his his arrogance out. So he took him up on the highest point, it says, of the temple. And he looked at17:02 Jesus and said, hey let's test God. Let's trust God. That that you jump off. Let's see if God will send his angels, alright, from the temple to rescue you and carry you.17:14 And remember what Jesus said? He says, listen, we're not supposed to do what? We're not supposed to tempt God. So Jesus was tempted the exact same way as17:26 we are, with ambition, with pride, with appetite, with arrogance, a lot of those things, and17:38 Jesus responded what? You're not supposed to tempt God. Now you say, alright. It says that that, the devil left him after he tempted him once, twice, 3 times, but let me17:49 just show you what it says the devil did. Look at Luke chapter 4 verse 13. Pick it up. I'll just show it to you. I'll read it to you. When the devil had finished all this tempting,18:01 he left him forever. Is that what he says? No. Until a more opportune time. Alright? That's18:13 exactly what Satan will always do to you. He's always going to be coming with these waves of temptations and even when you're strong and you're resisting, Satan says, alright, I'm gonna step back and I'm gonna regroup18:25 and I'm gonna come at you at a different time, a better time. Maybe when you're weaker or maybe when you hadn't been in church for a while, when you're getting out of God's word, because I'm gonna find a more opportune18:35 time where maybe I can tempt you. So, I love that idea that that means that if Jesus was tempted, sin's not a temptation. But, it also means if Satan tempted Jesus,18:47 who is fully God and fully man, Satan's definitely gonna tempt you and he's gonna definitely tempt me. But then when we do fall into sin, remember a couple of weeks ago I said real faith deals honestly with sin.18:59 I gave you this acrostic. Remember the confess acrostic? I gave it to you. Come clean with God. Own, own it. Own your sin personally. Name the sin specifically. Follow on God's mercy. Embrace Christ as your19:11 advocate. Seek forgiveness from others and start walking in obedience. So, I thought today when we talk about temptation, I'd give you an acrostic today for tempted. So, here it is. We'll put it up on the screen19:23 for you. The T, when you're tempted, think long term, not short term. Don't think how's this gonna make me feel in the next 519:34 minutes or 10 minutes. Say how is this gonna benefit me for the next 5 years or 10 years? See, sin happens in a moment. The pleasure happens in19:46 a moment. So, you want to think long term, not short term. Here's the E. Examine the source. Is it is it your eyes? Is it your flesh? Is it your pride? Is it your19:58 ambition? Is it your arrogance? Is it your appetite? Examine the source so you can deal with it. Then the M is measure it by scripture, not culture and not a trend.20:11 When you're thinking about committing a sin, measure it by what does scripture say about this? Boy, you flow through Instagram right now or social media right now, you've got all kinds of people telling you, you know,20:22 the Bible really didn't say no to this and it didn't really say no to this. No, measure the sin against scripture. What scripture says, go with that. P, pray before you proceed. Here's20:33 what I know. When I am tempted, if I will pause and pray, the temptation weakens. When my prayers strengthen, temptation gets20:45 weaker. So, pause and pray. Then turn away quickly. Man, don't, don't, don't, hang in there and say, hey, I'm gonna resist. Just move and go the other way. Here's the E,20:57 expose the lie. Expose the lie. Every sin comes with a lie. Every temptation comes with a lie. Hey, this will make you feel better.21:11 For a while, then I'll feel terrible. No 1 will know until they know. No one's gonna get hurt21:23 until they get hurt. Does that make sense? Expose the lie. Every sin has a lie. Decide who you love most. Jesus21:37 or the world? Who do you love the most, your family or this sin? Or let me just put it to you this way.21:49 If it won't matter in eternity, don't mortgage your integrity. You get that? If long term this won't benefit me, around22:01 the throne in heaven, the last thing I want to do is mortgage my integrity and my reputation and you don't want to either. Here's number 3. Number 3, you have to recognizeRecognizing and Avoiding False Teachers 22:13 false teachers. There are false teachers all around us today. There were false teachers back in the day. So notice what this said. Here's what John said. First John chapter 2 verse verse 18. He says,22:25 dear children, this is the last hour. You have heard that many antichrists are coming. Even now, many are here. What is an antichrist? We can talk about the revelation version of antichrist later. We're just talking22:36 about people that reject Christ. Actively teach against Christ. Said, this is how you'll know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.22:47 For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But, they're going out showed that none of them really belonged to us. Now listen, from time to time you'll see somebody. They're in church, they're in22:59 life group, they're in bible study, they're in everything, they're they're doing this. And then all of a sudden they walk away from the faith. You've got a ton of people right now on Instagram, social media,23:08 deconstructing their faith. You know what that says to me? They didn't lose their salvation, they never had it. They need to get saved. Alright? They went out from23:20 us proving they were not really of us. So, when you hear someone or see someone do that, man just pause. Now, if they're really part of the family,23:32 they'll be like the prodigal. They'll turn around and come back. Does that make sense? So now, basically John is saying, you can spot a false teacher because they deny23:44 Christ, they deny salvation, they deny God. Let me show you what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7 verse 15. He says, watch out. Everybody say, watch out. Watch out. False prophets and false23:56 teachers. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Now, I want you to know, not every24:07 difference of opinion means someone's a false teacher. There are some non essentials in faith that people can disagree over. But, I feel24:19 like I have to share with you, let me give you 5 thoughts on how as we close here, how you and I can identify a false teacher. And I want you to write these down, or send me an email. I'll send them24:31 to you. Number 1. What do they say about Jesus? The Bible says that Jesus is 100 percent God, 100 percent man.24:42 Fully God, fully man. All the fullness of deity dwelt in him in bodily form. If someone denigrates God, they just say, well he was special, or he had a divine spark in him, or or he was a good24:54 moral teacher, they are denigrating Christ, run. Number 2, what do they say about salvation? The Bible's real clear, salvation comes25:06 by faith and faith alone. For by grace you have been saved through faith, that not of yourselves performance, is a gift from God. Not, everybody say25:18 not. Not as a result of works. If someone says, you know what you need, you need to be saved, and then you need to do this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and you have to eat this, and do this, and if you ever25:29 stop doing those things, you're gonna lose your salvation. Run. Number 3, what do they say about scripture? If you're listening to a teacher,25:41 or maybe someone on social media, I see this a lot right now on social media. See, the Bible says all scripture, everybody say all scripture. All scripture is inspired by God.25:53 God breathed and profitable for teaching and training and rebuking. And so if someone comes to you and says, well you know, I love what Jesus said here because it's very26:05 loving and very kind, but I don't don't really believe that Jesus said that over there. Well, I believe this part of the Bible is inspired,26:18 But this part was just added in. You know, I've found about those people that think that the Bible is only inspired in spots, they also believe they're inspired to spot the spots.26:30 And it always happens to be the spots that aren't inspired are the ones that deal with their sin. How many of you know what I'm talking about? Alright, so what do they say about that? Here's number 4.26:42 Does their lifestyle match their message? Do they practice what they teach? Do they practice what they26:53 preach? If they say 1 thing on Sunday or Wednesday or whenever you listen to it, and then the rest of their life doesn't match it. What did Jesus say? You will know them by27:05 their fruit. Here's number 5. Do they create a lot of division? Do they do they draw people away? Do they27:17 claim to have a special knowledge? And they say, you know what, here, God gave me this for you, and if you'll just come over and just get out of you don't need church. Just just come over here. I'll teach you what27:29 you need. And they cause division in the truth, or they claim to have special knowledge, or or or they care more about their platform, or or their power, or or their money.27:43 You want to back away. Someone comes to teach and begins to draw you away from church and say, hey, let me just tell you this and God's got me. And of those 527:55 tests, if they fail 1, be careful. If they fail 2 of those tests, keep your distance.28:07 If they fail 3 of those tests, turn and run. Does that make sense? Let's pray. God, thank you so much for28:18 teaching us to stand firm in our faith. God, as we leave here today, we want to be the kind of people to celebrate your goodness. We spot the truth, we spot the lie.28:31 That we would resist temptation, say no to sin, Not because our relationship with you is based on our performance, but because of your incredible forgiveness.28:43 In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen.In this video 0:00 Remembering Your Identity in Christ14:08 Rejecting the World's Temptations22:11 Recognizing and Avoiding False Teachers
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