God of Yes - Free Indeed - Ep. 25

Summary

Barry Bennett teaches that the gospel offers more than forgiveness and the promise of heaven: it carries God’s power and blessing for life now. He calls God “the God of yes,” arguing that God remains committed to blessing people and that the gospel’s power has not expired.

A central theme is the difference between God’s promises and a believer’s response. Bennett interprets “all the promises of God are yes and amen” to mean that God says “yes,” while believers respond with “amen”—faith that accepts the promises and puts them into practice. He says his own doubts about whether God would be good to him personally, and his belief that he was unworthy, limited how fully he experienced the gospel. In his teaching, Jesus makes believers worthy; they should not judge God’s promises by their past experience or sense of deserving.

Main Ideas and Lessons

• The gospel is meant to transform life. Bennett says its effects should reach beyond church attendance and affect a person’s outlook, joy, love, relationships, health, and provision.
• God’s promises are enduring. He rejects the view that the gospel’s power or spiritual gifts ended after the first century, citing the unchanging nature of Jesus and the continuing activity of God’s Word.
• Faith is the believer’s response. Bennett emphasizes becoming persuaded of God’s goodness rather than merely “trying” a promise and judging it by an unsuccessful experience.
• God has already acted through Jesus. Bennett points to Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, the outpouring of the Spirit, and gifts to the church as God’s provision through the gospel. He urges believers to act on that provision through faith, Scripture, and spiritual authority rather than waiting for God to act again.
• A person’s view of God matters. Bennett identifies three things that can limit someone’s experience: a mistaken view of God, a mistaken view of oneself after being born again, and seeing circumstances as more powerful than oneself.
• God’s blessing is described broadly. Bennett applies the idea of prosperity to spiritual, emotional, physical, relational, and material life, including resources that enable generosity.
• Faith should shape words and expectations. He encourages believers to see and speak in line with God’s promises rather than repeatedly affirming lack, sickness, or defeat.
• The believer’s life should reflect God’s goodness. Bennett says that growth, fruitfulness, peace, provision, and generosity bring glory to God.

Practical Approach

• Renew your understanding of God and yourself. Reject the belief that God is reluctant to bless you or that your unworthiness disqualifies you; Bennett says Jesus has made believers worthy.
• Read and meditate on Scripture. Become familiar with God’s promises and meditate on them regularly.
• Trust the promises rather than letting experience overrule them. If a result has not occurred, Bennett says not to conclude that God’s Word is false. Instead, examine whether you have believed and acted on it.
• Respond with “amen.” Accept God’s promises in faith and expect them to apply to you, not only to other people.
• Speak in agreement with those promises. Declare what you believe and, in Bennett’s framing, use the Word of God to take authority over circumstances.
• Choose influences carefully. Applying Psalm 1, Bennett urges listeners to avoid cynical or scornful influences and become rooted in the things of God.
• Keep trusting and growing. Bennett presents faith as an ongoing practice that should produce spiritual fruit and increasingly shape everyday life.

Scriptures Cited or Discussed

Bennett refers to Romans 15:29; Romans 1:16; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Hebrews 6:14; Psalm 1:1–3; Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 34:8; Psalm 23:1; 2 Peter 1:3; Psalm 31:19; 3 John 2; and Proverbs 10:22. He also refers to the biblical description of Jesus as the same yesterday, today, and forever, and to the promise of blessings being given “pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”

The episode closes with Bennett praying that viewers will believe God is committed to blessing them. He also promotes the Gospel Truth Network’s helpline and his book Shaping Your Future.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Barry Bennett — Host and speaker; delivers the teaching and closing prayer.
• Andrew Wommack — Cited by Bennett in connection with the description of the gospel as “almost too good to be true news.”
• The Bible — The primary source for the verses Bennett quotes and interprets.
• Music — Brief musical segments are heard at the beginning and end.