What is the Call to Salvation?

Summary

Grace in Focus — Episode Summary

Episode Title: What is the Call to Salvation?
Date: May 20, 2026
Hosts: Bob Wilkin, Sam Marr
Podcast: Grace Evangelical Society

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Episode Overview

This episode explores the practical and theological implications of 1 Peter 5:7, focusing on what it means to “cast your cares and anxieties on Christ.” While the title references the "call to salvation," the episode's core discussion centers on Christian assurance, dealing with anxiety, and maintaining a focus on God's grace through humility and prayer. Drawing from Scripture and personal experience, Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr address how believers can navigate real-world worries in light of biblical exhortations, highlighting the balance between emotions and faith.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Does it Mean to Cast Our Cares on Christ?

• Definition of "casting your cares":
  • Sam: “To cast our cares upon him is to put our cares in his care or put our concerns in his care. And so ultimately it seems to me the number one way we do this very specifically is prayer.” (01:49)
• Emotional expression in prayer (using Psalms and David as examples):
  • Bob: “So many of the Psalms are exactly this ... It's a crying out screaming sort of prayer and it's very emotional. But that is the way that David expressed His prayers to God.” (02:18)

2. Humility as a Prerequisite

• Humility and submission emphasized:
  • Sam: “A big part of casting our cares or anxieties upon him is to be humble. ... humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” (02:48)
• Future exaltation and present help:
  • Exalting “in due time” is tied to both present circumstances and the judgment seat of Christ.

3. Scriptural Foundations for Handling Anxiety

• Matthew 6 and the Sermon on the Mount:
  • Bob: “What He's saying is, if you fix your eyes on the kingdom of heaven, then God will provide those things for you.” (04:47)
  • Sam: “It's natural that we are worried about those things. But what He's saying is, … seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (04:00)
• Philippians 4:6-7:
  • Bob reads: “Be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. … And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus.” (06:06)

4. Differentiating Everyday Anxiety from Spiritual Shortcoming

• Real struggles with anxiety:
  • Sam shares personal experience: “I just have a sense of anxiety. My heart will race at times and my breathing gets off ... I'm just going through anxiety that's hitting me for no logical reason.” (07:24)
  • He distinguishes between normal emotional responses and disobedience to scriptural advice.
• Role of mental health and medication:
  • Sam: “There are people that have what's called obsessive compulsive disorder ... in those cases, I think many, if not all of those people need to take medication so that their thinking can be regulated, because otherwise they're going to have this obsessive thinking.” (08:36)
  • Anxiety often cannot simply be “waved away”; it may persist despite efforts.

5. Practical Applications: Prayer, Focus, and Community

• Prayer isn't just a command but encouragement:
  • Bob: “All three of these passages are not a legal command given by Christ … I think these are encouragements that are supposed to teach believers how we should be.” (09:44)
• Logic vs. human experience:
  • Wilkin: “We know where we're going to go when we die. So there's no reason to worry logically. But ... logic does not dictate human experience. And so we're going to have these things, but these are guidelines for how we should consciously choose to live.” (10:24)
• Reacting to anxiety:
  • Bob: “What you can choose is how you react to that. And if you react with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, then God is going to bless you with a peace that surpasses all understanding.” (10:58)
• Asking for others' support:
  • Sam: “Solicit the prayers of others. Your spouse, your children, your trusted people ... You can ask for the whole church to pray for whatever this is that concerns you.” (11:10)
• Personal illustration (tax anxiety):
  • Sam recounts praying through anxiety over taxes and seeking help: “Did I experience some anxiety? Yeah, but I prayed about it … it worked out.” (11:10)
  • “We shouldn't want a life that's free from all cares or free from all anxieties. We need those. When we have those, we humble ourselves, realize we need the Lord.” (11:52)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “To cast our cares upon him is to put our cares in his care … the number one way we do this very specifically is prayer.”
  — Sam Marr (01:49)

• “So many of the Psalms are exactly this ... It's a crying out screaming sort of prayer and it's very emotional.”
  — Bob Wilkin (02:18)

• “What God desires is a broken and contrite heart.”
  — Sam Marr, recalling David (02:48)

• “If you fix your eyes on the kingdom of heaven, then God will provide those things for you.”
  — Bob Wilkin (04:47)

• “We can't let those things determine like, okay, I was anxious yesterday. That means I was consciously an anxious person. That doesn't mean you chose to be that way. That's something you experienced.”
  — Bob Wilkin (10:24)

• “We need those [anxieties]. When we have those, we humble ourselves, realize we need the Lord.”
  — Sam Marr (11:52)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:14 — Introduction of 1 Peter 5:7 and foundational questions about casting cares
• 01:49–02:48 — Discussion on prayer, humility, and the example of David
• 03:51–05:24 — Exploring humility, “seek first the kingdom,” and trusting God for provision
• 06:06 — Reading and discussion of Philippians 4:6-7
• 07:24–09:44 — Personal anecdotes about anxiety, mental health, and the spiritual perspective
• 10:24–11:52 — Differentiating feelings from spiritual failures and encouragement to seek support
• 12:48–end — Summary: prayer, focus, and grace in practice

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Concluding Insights

Bob and Sam underscore that the biblical call to “cast your cares upon Him” is a gracious encouragement—not a burdensome command. By responding to anxiety with prayer, maintaining focus on God’s promises, and involving trusted community members, believers can experience God’s peace amid life's inevitable worries. The episode encourages listeners to approach God honestly, rely on His care, and understand that feelings of anxiety do not separate them from His love or their salvation.

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For more articles and daily blogs, visit faithalone.org.

Transcript

[Bob Wilken]

The following is a listener supported ministry

[Announcer]

from the Grace Evangelical Society. First Peter 5. 7 says, Casting all your care on him, for he cares for you. What is the best way to cast your anxiety on the Lord? It's a verse we all need to apply at some point. What are some examples of how to apply this verse? Stay with us, we'll talk about it here on Grace and Focus. And we are just delighted that you're joining us today, friend. This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. We love it. When you check out our website faithalone.org we have many articles, even hundreds of articles there that you can review, read and study research for free. So take advantage of that. Also information about our online seminary and our free subscription magazine. Find it [e-mail] and now with today's discussion on First Peter 5:7, here's Bob Wilken along with Sam Marr.

[Bob Wilken]

Alright Bob, we've got a question from Brad. This is something we've talked about before, but people just are still worried and still anxious. So I guess they're gonna still keep asking about it.

[Sam Marr]

Right?

[Bob Wilken]

But his question is, can you explain first Peter 5. 7 and provide examples of how Christians can cast their cares and anxieties on Christ? So first Peter 5. Seven, I'll read verse six. First he says, Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. 7 Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. And then there's some more. This is in his closing remarks of this letter. So there's some other encouragements and then a farewell. But how can Christians what does it mean to cast our cares and anxieties on Christ? I think is the first question. But then how do we do it?

[Sam Marr]

Yeah, so to cast our cares upon him is to put our cares in his care or put our concerns in his care. And so ultimately it seems to me the number one way we do this very specifically is prayer. We pray and we tell God what is a concern for us and ask him to aid us with this, to help us with this.

[Bob Wilken]

And we have good examples. So many of the Psalms are exactly this. It's my enemies are surrounding me, the world is crumbling around me, the sky is falling. You know, everything's going wrong. But he always cries out to God and sometimes it's extremely emotional the way he does it. It's not a polite please God, please do this. It's a crying out screaming sort of prayer and it's very emotional. But that is the way that David expressed His prayers to God.

[Sam Marr]

Yeah, I like that. And of course you remember David said, what God desires is a broken and contrite heart. Peter says that same basic thing in the verses preceding 1st Peter 5, 7 that Brad was asking about. Notice starting in verse 5. Likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you, be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility. For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. A big part of casting our cares or anxieties upon him is to be humble. Notice, he says, therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. I take the exalting in due time refers ultimately to the judgment seat of Christ, although it probably has ramifications in this life that he can exalt us in this life as well. But in order to cast your cares upon him, you've got to humble yourself.

[Bob Wilken]

And I think that's exactly what we see if we go to Matthew 6:25, and it's all the way through verse 33. It's a really long passage, but it's really, really good.

[Sam Marr]

In the Sermon on the Mount. And this is the passage that ends with, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. But the preceding that is, we're helpless to add anything to our lifespan or to our height, depending on how you understand that, and that we need to be casting all of our future upon him.

[Bob Wilken]

In 25, he says, therefore I say to you, and this is Christ speaking, Christ is telling us, don't worry about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, nor about your body. And he gives the example of the birds in the air. The birds, they don't sow, they don't reap, they don't gather in barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. And so he's not saying here, you don't need to eat, you don't need to drink, you don't need to have

[Sam Marr]

clothes, and you don't need to work.

[Bob Wilken]

Right? That's not what he's saying. What he's saying is the Lord provides for you, so there's no need to worry about it. And then verse 33, where he says, but first seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. So these things there, I think, is the things that they're worried about, the most basic human anxieties and worries. Food, water, clothing, shelter. It's natural that we are worried about those things. But what He's Saying is, if you fix your eyes on the kingdom of heaven, then God will provide those things for you.

[Sam Marr]

Now notice verse 34 also, therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. So when he says don't worry about tomorrow, what you just said helps answer all of this. Because I've talked to lots of people and they say, but I am anxious. I am concerned about where my next meal will come from. I am concerned about how I'm going to make the car payment or how I'm going to pay the rent of my apartment or how I'm going to pay the mortgage. I am concerned about those things. What Is it, Philippians 4? Is it 6, 7, 8? Where he says, be anxious for nothing?

[Bob Wilken]

Yeah, that's one of my favorite passages in the New Testament, the closing remarks of the letter of Philippians. But he says, be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. So that's exactly what you were saying. The first step is prayer. That's the instruction we've been given by Scripture and But then he goes on to say, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus.

[Sam Marr]

I don't know if you've ever heard, Sam, of something called generalized anxiety disorder. I've never been diagnosed with that, but I've kind of self diagnosed myself because I tend to be anxious all the time.

[Announcer]

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[Sam Marr]

that I'm anxious about where's the next dollar going to come from? Where's the food going to come from? I just have a sense of anxiety. My heart will race at times and my breathing gets off at times because I'm just going through anxiety that's hitting me for no logical reason. Well, I don't consider that to be a Violation of Philippians 4, 6 or 1st Peter 5, 7 or 6 or Matthew 6, 25:34. What I consider that is a feeling. We have lots of feelings and we can't just wave away the feelings. So you can be anxious but not anxious in the Sense of Philippians4.6. Anxiety. The Anxiety in Philippians4.6. I like your point. How did you put it, what we focus on? If I'm focusing my attention on these things, I'm obsessing on these things, it seems to me I'm inviting anxiety. The part of the problem, however, is there are people that have what's called obsessive compulsive disorder. And I'm close to that, too. I mean, I don't think I'm ocd. I think I'm OC because, like, I'll check doors and locks and, you know, I have to be careful to. Yeah, I know the garage door went down. I know I've not left anything burning in the house or whatever. But there are people that are beyond that. And in those cases, I think many, if not all of those people need to take medication so that their thinking can be regulated, because otherwise they're going to have this obsessive thinking. But if my focus is on Christ, and I love Christ and looking forward to being with him forever, and that's where my focus is, on his soon return and on pleasing Him, I'm casting my cares upon him as they come up, well, then if I have anxiety, I have fears and things that hit me, that's not a violation. It's not like the Scriptures can actually, if you're thinking, be anxious for nothing and yet you're experiencing anxiety. You can think, well, I give up, because how can I do this if I'm experiencing anxiety?

[Bob Wilken]

Well, I feel very strongly that all three of these passages are not a legal command given by Christ or by the apostles, that as soon as you worry you've committed sin, go ask for forgiveness.

[Sam Marr]

Right.

[Bob Wilken]

I think these are encouragements that are supposed to teach believers how we should be. Because here's the thing, and if Christ didn't come to earth in a human body, live a righteous life, die, resurrect, and then go to heaven, then you should be worried. Like, you should be worried about your present circumstances, about what you're going to eat, what you're going to do, and you should be terrified of where you're going to go when you die.

[Sam Marr]

Right.

[Bob Wilken]

But these are written to believers who we already know we're secure. We know where we're going to go when we die. So there's no reason to worry logically. But like you're saying, logic does not dictate human experience. And so we're going to have these things, but these are guidelines for how we should consciously choose to live. But we can't let ourselves, you know, the experiences we have, the feelings we suffer. We can't let those things determine like, okay, I was anxious yesterday. That means I was consciously an anxious person. That doesn't mean you chose to be that way. That's something you experienced and but what you can choose is how you react to that. And if you react with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, then God is going to bless you with a peace that surpasses all understanding.

[Sam Marr]

Let me give a quick illustration. Tax time. I've been dealing with a CPA and trying to work that through. I've been experiencing some anxiety because the CPA was saying and it was confusing to me. I don't understand it. Well, I prayed about it, Lord, help this get resolved. But I didn't want to just say, well, whatever, I'll just pay. We were going to end up and be paying, I think, $151, which, that's not bad. But I seemed like I was paying too much. So I ended up and asked some questions. I prayed about it. I asked some questions. Did I experience some anxiety? Yeah, but I prayed about it and I did ask the CPA to look into it more. Ultimately, it turned out we're getting 2,300 back instead of paying 151. They finally figured out, well, also I had made a mistake on something and they pointed that out to me. And so all in all, it worked out. But fear and anxiety are emotions that God gives us so that we will pray, so that we will look to the Lord, so that we will ask the questions and do what we need to do. We shouldn't want a life that's free from all cares or free from all anxieties. We need those. When we have those, we humble ourselves, realize we need the Lord. We need his people. And by the way, that's another thing. Solicit the prayers of others. Your spouse, your children, your trusted people. Like have your mentor pray for you. You can ask for the whole church to pray for whatever this is that concerns you.

[Bob Wilken]

Yeah, I'd say prayer and focus are the two answers to this question because that's what God told us.

[Sam Marr]

And that's perfectly fitting because we need to keep grace and focus. Amen.

[Announcer]

Be sure to check out our daily [e-mail] they are short and full of great teaching, just like what you've heard today. Find them at faithalone.org resources we would like to thank all of our financial partners who help us keep this show going all gifts are tax deductible and very much appreciated. If you'd like to find out how you can be a financial partner, Visit [e-mail] on our next episode. What is the call to salvation? What is a clear salvation message? Be sure to join us again, and until then, let's keep grace and in focus.

[Bob Wilken]

The proceeding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.