Deepen with Pastor Joby Martin

Episode: Saturated x Deepen with Pastor Phil Hopper
Date: September 13, 2025
Guest: Pastor Phil Hopper

Episode Overview

In this episode, Pastor Joby Martin is joined by Pastor Phil Hopper to deep-dive into the themes of Pastor Hopper’s recent sermon at the Saturated conference. Together with other Church of Eleven22 leaders, they explore the crucial distinction between commitment and consecration, what it means to live the crucified life, practical holiness, transparency, surrender, and real faith that transforms daily living and relationships, particularly marriage. The conversation is rich with personal stories, practical theology, laughter, vulnerability, and actionable advice for moving from “unbelieving believer” to fully surrendered disciple.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Commitment vs. Consecration

(04:53–11:01)

• Committed Christians: Many believers treat their relationship with Jesus as one of many commitments—resulting in inconsistent Christianity.

  • “The problem with the modern church is there, it's full of committed Christians.” —Joby Martin [07:32]
  • “Jesus doesn't want to be just another commitment in an already over-committed life.” —Phil Hopper [09:04]

• Consecrated Life: Consecration means full surrender—dying to self so that Christ may truly live through you.

  • Phil relates D-Day stories from WWII: “You literally die ahead of time. You resign your life ahead of time. You just come to terms with the fact that you're dead already.” —Phil Hopper [09:19]
  • “Dead men aren’t scared of anything, because you’re already dead.” —Phil Hopper [10:13]

• Action vs. Inaction: Living in the “squishy middle” (i.e., half-committed, half-surrendered) will not transform your life.

  • “The squishy middle is where you go to die.” —Joby Martin [07:12]

2. Unbelieving Believers and Fire Insurance Christianity

(04:16–06:15)

• Living "halfway in": Many Christians believe just enough to escape Egypt (sin) but not enough to enter the Promised Land (abundant living).

  • “You believe Jesus can get you into heaven. You don't think he can set you free from that addiction?” —Phil Hopper [05:23]

• True faith is not mere intellectual agreement but transformational trust in God’s power for daily life.

  • “You live in the wilderness of mediocrity, if not complete captivity.” —Phil Hopper [05:40]

3. Daily Dying: The Practical Outworking of Faith

(11:01–15:16)

• Positional vs Practical Reality:

  • "Positionally in Christ, we have victory already, practically, it doesn't feel like it sometimes." —Phil Hopper [11:14]

• Sanctification:

  • “Justification—Jesus died to deliver you from sin's penalty, sanctification—you die to be delivered from sin's power. That's where that daily repentance comes in.” —Phil Hopper [13:02]

• Repentance as Lifestyle:

  • “The life of the Christian is out of daily repentance.” —Joby Martin [12:13]
  • Managing sin vs. crucifying the flesh:
    • “You can't manage your flesh, it has to be crucified.” —Joby Martin [13:32]
    • “Your will will cave in.” —Phil Hopper [14:46]
  • “Every sport you’ve ever played is: you want to get better, try harder. And this thing is, you want to get better, die to yourself.” —Joby Martin [15:10]

4. From Suppression to Submission: Freedom from Sin

(21:57–24:11)

• Managing (suppressing) sin leads to failure; victory comes from submitting the whole self to God.
  • “It’s not a life of suppression. It’s a life of submission. You literally present your body to Jesus…in that moment you'll either submit to sin or you will submit to him.” —Phil Hopper [21:57]
• Mortification & Vivification:
  • “You gotta kill sin, or it’ll be killing you...One of the quickest ways to do it is confess it out loud to other people.” —Joby Martin [23:09]

5. Practical Fruits of Consecration: Marriage & Relationships

(15:23–21:57, 36:12–44:01)

• Phil’s Marriage Testimony: Vulnerably shares how his marriage struggled until he truly surrendered himself to God, not just as a pastor or husband, but as a broken man.

  • “I got the wife that I wanted when God got the man that he wanted.” —Phil Hopper [18:55]
  • “Your marriage only dies when two people choose to live; you have to die to self together to give life to your marriage.” —Phil Hopper [19:48]

• True marital death and resurrection: Less about grand gestures (“take a bullet for my wife”) and more about daily self-sacrifice (e.g., "do the dishes, go to the mall, let go of preferences") [20:27-21:04].

• Parenting:

  • Surrendering control over children’s outcomes allows God to resurrect new life and maturity in them.
    • “You have to die to trying to control the outcomes of your children in order for the resurrection of their own walk with Jesus.” —Joby Martin [39:08]
    • “You let go of control while you grow in influence.” —Phil Hopper [43:23]

6. Steps Toward a Consecrated Life

(24:38–25:08)

• Standards over Goals:
  • “Goals are: I’m going to read my Bible this many times a day. A standard is: I’m going to be a godly man...this is what godly men do.” —Joby Martin [24:36]
• No Safe Faith:
  • “There’s no such thing as a safe faith. Faith can't be safe. Faith—faith has to have a sense of risk.” —Phil Hopper [26:41]
• Transparency & Confession:
  • “The strength of sin is in its secrecy; you want to disarm the enemy, transparency.” —Phil Hopper [27:07]

7. Believing God, Not Just Believing in God

(29:10–30:12)

• “I know you believe in God, but do you believe God?” —Joby Martin [29:10]
• “If the tomb is empty, anything is possible.” —Joby Martin [30:05]
• Do we actually believe God can resurrect our marriage, free us from addiction, redeem our circumstances?

8. Wilderness Sanctuary: Settling for Less

(31:03–33:06)

• Satan can’t rob you of salvation, but will contentedly “allow you a wilderness sanctuary” of mediocrity if it keeps you from victorious living.
  • “The devil will allow you a wilderness sanctuary. He knows you're out of Egypt, that you're forgiven...He just wants to keep you from the promised land.” —Phil Hopper [31:10]
• Screwtape Letters parallel: The enemy will lull you into spiritual sleep by pacification, self-righteousness, or distractions (committees, politics, etc).

9. The Real Spiritual Battle

(33:06–35:42)

• Testimony of ex-Satanist—unveiling the reality of spiritual warfare, the heavy oppression that can exist, and the power of Christ to rescue from any darkness.
• Warning: We often “leave powder for tomorrow’s battle,” presuming there will always be another day to fully surrender or fight.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The squishy middle is where you go to die.” —Joby Martin [07:12]
• “You literally die ahead of time.” —Phil Hopper [09:19]
• “Your marriage only dies when two people choose to live.” —Phil Hopper [19:48]
• “Suppression is not submission. You cannot present your body to sin while you are presenting it to Jesus.” —Phil Hopper [21:57]
• “The strength of sin is in its secrecy. Transparency—1 John 1:7.” —Phil Hopper [27:07]
• “If the tomb is empty, anything is possible.” —Joby Martin [30:05]
• “The enemy can't do anything about your eternity. The last thing he wants you to do is be on fire for the Lord.” —Joby Martin [32:02]
• “There's no such thing as a safe faith.” —Phil Hopper [26:41]
• “You have to die to trying to control the outcomes of your children in order for the resurrection of their own walk with Jesus.” —Joby Martin [39:08]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:53] Unbelieving believers; half-faith that stops short of abundance
• [09:04] Difference between commitment and consecration
• [11:14] Positional vs practical sanctification; repentance as ongoing
• [13:32] The futility of managing sin; need for crucifying the flesh
• [15:23] Real-life vulnerability: marriage transformation through surrender
• [21:57] Suppression vs submission; “presenting your body” in temptation
• [24:36] Standards vs goals; practical spiritual disciplines
• [26:41] No such thing as safe faith
• [27:07] The power of confession and transparency
• [29:10] Believe in God vs believe God; practical resurrection power
• [31:03] Wilderness sanctuary—settling for less than God's victory
• [39:08] Letting go of control over your children
• [44:13] Final thoughts: Surrendering to unleash spiritual flow & power

Conclusion & Prayer

• Expression of gratitude for the relationships and mutual sharpening in ministry.
• Closing Prayer: "Father in heaven, may we live the crucified life, that we may walk in resurrection power. We pray in Jesus name." [45:18]

This episode will challenge and encourage anyone ready to move from comfortable “commitment” to radical, daily consecration and resurrection living, both in their faith and their closest relationships.