Free to Be a Slave 08/07/2016

Summary: The ability to make promises is a uniquely human activity. Many people view the marriage covenant as constricting. But the knot which you tie in marriage is not a noose. Actually, when you make a promise you are in a state where you are your most free and your most human. How so? Well, animals can't make promises. Everything they do occurs by instinct. If their hormones tell them to migrate, they migrate. Humans, however, are moral agents. We do not have to follow our feelings and emotions. We have the ability to stand against them. The person who always runs away from pain and follows their feelings is no different from the rest of the animal kingdom. They are enslaved to their emotions. The person who sticks by a promise, even when it hurts, demonstrates that they have the capacity for faithfulness. It is an act of moral courage. Such a person is truly free. Galatians 5:13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Transition: So what is this freedom Paul is talking about in Galatians. Before we answer this question, I want to set up another problem first. Notice Romans 2:5ff. 5 But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7 He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. See also: Romans 2:13 For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight. 14 Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. 15 They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right. 16 And this is the message I proclaim—that the day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life. First, who is Paul talking about here? See 2 Corinthians 3:1–6 Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not! 2 The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. 3 Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. 4 We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. 5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. We could also look at Deuteronomy 30 and Ezekiel 36. Paul is symphonically referencing Gentile Christians. But notice what He says about judging. See Romans 2:6 & 13. We see the same thing in the following texts: Psalm 62:12 Surely you repay all people according to what they have done. Revelation 22:12 “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. 1 Peter 1:17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. Revelation 2:23 Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve. 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. So wait, I thought we were saved on the basis of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we are saved by faith not by works. That is true, but the verses we have just read are also true, and if we ignore them then we are left with a reduction of what the Bible teaches. So how do we put these things together? Just as in the ancient world, all roads led to Rome, so too in the Bible all roads lead to Romans since it is the pinnacle of theological truth. What Paul does so frequently in the book of Romans is to highlight a topic that he will return too in a fuller expression later on in the book. This is why it is important to read the book as a whole. There are some vital truths you will never see if you merely stick with the Romans Road. So lets skip ahead and see how Paul puts these truths together. Romans 8:1–2 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. V.1 refers to the judgement call Jesus will make about us at the final judgement. Romans 8:12–14 12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. You say I'm adding works to salvation or justification. No, I'm acknowledging the power of the Holy Spirit. I'm acknowledging there is a difference between those who merely want to be saved from the penalty of sin and those who want to be saved from committing sin. Paul says the same thing in Galatians 6:8: 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. If you say you have Jesus, then you also have the Spirit of Jesus, and this Holy Spirit will cause you to desire to please God. Galatians 4:6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father. Its a both/and. If you have Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit. If you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you don’t really have Jesus. A text that puts these two things together is… 2 Corinthians 5:9 So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. So we see that those who truly do believe in Jesus, have as their goal a desire to please God. Our tendency has been to think that we can never please God. That all the good we do is as filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6 6 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. But what does the previous verse say? Isaiah 64:4–5 4 For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him! 5 You welcome those who gladly do good, who follow godly ways. Hear the following verses on pleasing God: Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable (euarestos- “well-pleasing”). See also the end of verse 2 “which is good and pleasing and perfect” Romans 14:17–18 17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. Philippians 2:12–13 12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. So, it all comes down to, do u want to please God? Don't just say yes. That's too risky when we consider we have a God that doesn't show favoritism. Does your life and the way it's lived say yes. So when we work to please God, is it us or is it the Holy Spirit working? The answer is “yes.” Colossians 1:29 That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me. 1 Corinthians 15:10 But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. Humans become genuinely human, genuinely free, when the Spirit is at work within them so that they choose to act, and choose to become people who more and more act in ways which reflect God’s image, which give him pleasure, which brings glory to His name, which do what the law had in mind all along. This leads to the final verdict, “Well done good and faithful servant.” Those who have the Spirit of God do not just wait around for God to change them. If the fruit of the Spirit happened without any human thought or moral effort why did Paul urge the Galatians to develop the fruit of the Spirit. So this is where humans are truly free. This is what it means to be a slave of Christ. We live to please God and that is all that matters. Are you living this way? If not perhaps its bc you don’t have the Holy Spirit. Are you a Christian that has lost your way and you have started focusing on pleasing self? If you are a Christian I promise you will find that this does not bring happiness. ILLUSTRATION: 41 YEARS OLD, CANT MESS AROUND. I am not going to find happiness in seeking to please myself, that is, my primary fallen nature. Believe that. Not going to happen. Especially if you are a Christian. I'm going to find happiness by seeking to please God. CG QUESTIONS 1. When we say Old Covenant, what covenant are we referring to? 2. Please read the following texts: Deuteronomy 30:1–8 “In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. 2 If at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you. 4 Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you from there and bring you back again. 5 The Lord your God will return you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will possess that land again. Then he will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors! 6 “The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live! 7 The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you. 8 Then you will again obey the Lord and keep all his commands that I am giving you today. Jeremiah 31:31–34 31 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. 33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” 2 Corinthians 3:3–6 3 Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. 4 We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. 5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. So, is the new covenant a Plan B or is it something the LORD has been planning from the beginning? How do you know? 3. What is the primary difference between the Old & the New Covenant according to these verses? ANSWER: The Holy Spirit 4. When did the New Covenant go into effect? How do you know? (See the following texts) Hebrews 9:15 15 That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. Hebrews 10:16–18 16 “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” 18 And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices. Hebrews 12:24 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. 1 Corinthians 11:25 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.” (SIDENOTE, EXTRA CREDIT :-) There are some who will say that the New Covenant is both strictly for the future and strictly given for ethnic Israelites. They say the new covenant promise was made to the nation of Israel so it is strictly for the nation of Israel and won't go into effect until Jesus is ruling from the throne of David in Jerusalem after the second coming during the millennium. I didn't have time to get into this during the sermon, but Romans 2:28–29 speaks to this issue specifically and in my opinion is a STRONG counter argument to such a position: Romans 2:28–29 28 For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. 29 No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. Keep in mind the word "true" is not in the original text so you won't see it for instance in translations like the New American Standard, KJV, or ESV. Notice that Paul here is calling Gentile Christians Jews based on the New Covenant.) 5. How did we say that the concepts of "freedom in Christ" and "slavery" fit together? Galatians 5:13 13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. 6. Is it possible to please God with our good works? How would you demonstrate your answer from Scripture? ANSWER: Based on the following texts the answer is yes, but what we MUST understand is that God is NEVER pleased with our good works as the basis for our salvation. We are saved for good works, not on the basis of good works (Ephesians 2:8–10) Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable (euarestos- “well-pleasing”). See also the end of verse 2 “which is good and pleasing and perfect” Romans 14:17–18 17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. Philippians 2:12–13 12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. 7. We saw from the following texts that everyone will be judged. Based on how you are living your life, how you spend your time, talent, and treasure, do you expect to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant" on judgement day? Please explain. Why? What evidence would you give? Psalm 62:12 Surely you repay all people according to what they have done. Revelation 22:12 “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. 1 Peter 1:17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. Revelation 2:23 Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve. 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. 8. When struggling with some conflict in life, when pressured and stressed, does it make it simpler to consider in those situations that all that matters is pleasing the Lord? Does this help you see distinctly the difference between our desires to please self, and the desire to please the LORD? Please explain.

Free to Be a Slave 08/07/2016

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