You Have To Earn God's Love Series

### **I. Introduction: The Lie We Believe**

Video Ill.: Sermon Bumper 1

The world is full of lies. And sadly, many times the lies of the world are believed and become our truth.

And the devil—called in Scripture the father of lies, the prince of deception—spreads them far and wide.

He uses this world to distract us, to pull our focus away from God’s truth, and to trap us into believing what is false.

That is the battlefield we live on every day.

Every time we turn on the news, scroll social media, or simply try to make sense of our world, the lies are everywhere:

Lies about what makes us valuable.

Lies about how we should live.

Lies about what really matters.

Lies about who God is… and who we are.

### **The Epidemic of Lies**

The Most Common Lie

Source: Friedrich Nietzsche, Leadership, Vol. 17, no. 2.

https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/1997/june/2476.html

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It has been said that the most common lie is the lie we tell to ourselves.

But it’s not just individual struggles—this world has a problem with lies on a much larger scale.

Epidemic of Lies (Modified)

Sourced from: Charles Colson, "Post-Truth Society," Christianity Today (3-11-02), p. 112

https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2003/december/14710.html

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Consider the story of George O’Leary—a man who, for just a moment, reached the pinnacle of his profession.

It was the dream of a lifetime: a chance to coach the legendary Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

But the day after he signed his contract, a reporter fact-checked his résumé—and it all came crashing down.

It turned out O’Leary had lied about his academic credentials and athletic achievements. A few days later, he was forced to resign in disgrace.

Sadly, his story is not unique.

In recent years, we have seen an epidemic of lying:

Politicians caught in scandal…

Authors caught plagiarizing…

Historians and journalists inventing facts to fit a narrative…

Even high-profile leaders in business, sports, and media creating false stories to make themselves look better.

It’s a sobering reality: James Patterson and Peter Kim, authors of The Day America Told the Truth, estimate that 91 percent of us regularly embroider the truth. "We lie and don't even think about it," Patterson and Kim write.

We lie so often, we barely even notice it anymore.

And the world? It tells us that’s normal.

It tells us that lying is just how you get ahead. After all, the world lies to us all the time.

It tells us that truth is whatever you want it to be.

It tells us that you have to pretend, exaggerate, or perform to be loved.

But friends—there is a better way — the way of truth.

This morning, we are beginning a study of the lies the world tells—how they shape us, how they impact our lives, and how we can find the truth in God’s Word.

Today, we are going to expose one of the most damaging lies the world tells us: The lie that we have to earn God’s love. If we are good enough, successful enough, or "clean" enough, then we will be loved—by people, and even by God.

But on our journey this morning, I hope that we see there is a much greater truth.

### **I. Exposing the Lie: The Problem with Earning Love**

As we begin, let’s take a closer look at this lie: the belief that we must earn love—especially God’s love.

Let’s be honest: in our culture, earning is what we do. It’s what we’re taught.

As Americans, we’re wired to earn everything:

We earn likes and approval on social media.

We earn a living at our jobs.

We earn our homes, our cars, our degrees, our certificates, and our diplomas.

In sports, we earn runs, touchdowns, field goals, made baskets, and wins.

We hustle, we grind, we strive.

Approval, success, and status are seen as rewards for good performance.

That is the air we breathe in this world.

But here’s the problem:

That “earn it” mentality doesn’t stay in our jobs or our sports or our social media feeds.

It overflows into our spiritual lives, too.

We start to believe the lie that God’s love works the same way — salvation must be earned — mercy must be acquired.

We must earn His approval.

We must perform for His grace.

If we just try hard enough, if we pray more, serve more, give more, we will finally be worthy.

A cartoon once pictured a group of modern-day Pharisees, proudly saying,

“We get our righteousness the old-fashioned way… we earn it!”

And if we’re honest, sometimes we think that way too.

We may even quote Scripture like Philippians 2:12:

12 …[W]ork out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2, NKJV)

But we forget the very next verse:

13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2, NKJV)