WEBVTT 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:06.120 Father, we confess before you that we think we understand, we think we know what it means 00:00:06.120 --> 00:00:11.820 to be human, we think we have all that stuff figured out, and we confess before you that 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:15.160 then when we read your word, your word doesn't seem to make sense. 00:00:16.219 --> 00:00:24.300 So Father, we ask that you would grant us some self-knowledge, that you would help us 00:00:24.300 --> 00:00:29.080 to understand that we're still really confused about what it means to be human and what it 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:29.899 means to be free. 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:37.379 And we acknowledge before you, Father, that your word, that you as the creator of all 00:00:37.379 --> 00:00:43.079 things, that your word speaks true and deep wisdom to us as to what it means to be human 00:00:43.079 --> 00:00:44.839 and what it means to be free. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:52.959 So Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would make us receptive to what you say, that you 00:00:52.959 --> 00:00:58.739 would bring your word to bear to our heart, that you would reveal our heart to us. 00:00:59.079 --> 00:01:05.060 In the presence of you, the living God, that your Holy Spirit would just speak to our heart 00:01:05.060 --> 00:01:08.900 so that we might know ourselves as we know you. 00:01:09.819 --> 00:01:14.039 And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son, and our Savior. 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:15.019 Amen. 00:01:16.120 --> 00:01:20.599 And I almost said be seated because I'm sort of trained like Pavlov's dog. 00:01:20.599 --> 00:01:27.739 So some of you might be, you know, it's always a little bit funny when you're doing a long 00:01:27.739 --> 00:01:32.419 series because the book of Romans is going to take us about 24 weeks to go through. 00:01:33.659 --> 00:01:35.259 But here's the thing. 00:01:35.500 --> 00:01:40.139 On this the other day at one of the Starbucks that I go to, one of the people that I talk 00:01:40.139 --> 00:01:45.459 to all the time who's sort of a, he would describe himself as a spiritual agnostic. 00:01:45.459 --> 00:01:47.179 I think that would be a fair description. 00:01:47.899 --> 00:01:50.739 And he asked me, he said, what are you going to preach about on Sunday? 00:01:50.780 --> 00:01:56.719 And I said, I think that sort of, you know, I sort of hemmed and hawed because I was still 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:57.979 trying to get straight in my mind. 00:01:58.399 --> 00:02:05.839 And I said, I think we're going to talk about the inadequacy and the powerlessness of moral 00:02:05.839 --> 00:02:07.560 and spiritual rules. 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:13.259 And then he said, George, you can't talk about that. 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:17.819 That undermines 3,000 years of Christian and Jewish teaching. 00:02:18.699 --> 00:02:24.240 All the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam would say that you're wrong. 00:02:25.480 --> 00:02:29.180 That's sort of an interesting thing for a spiritual agnostic because I'm a Christian. 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:33.800 And so anyway, he's telling me that that's not what Christianity says, that moral and spiritual 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:37.039 rules are at the end of the day inadequate and powerless. 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:42.240 And so I said to him, well, yeah, that's actually what the book of Romans says. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:43.759 You should try reading it sometime. 00:02:43.939 --> 00:02:46.620 But anyway, then the conversation went off to some other type of thing. 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:50.199 But that's what we're going to talk about a little bit this morning. 00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:55.819 So just to try to set the stage, if you have your Bibles, turn in them to Romans chapter 00:02:55.819 --> 00:02:57.080 6, verse 15. 00:02:57.860 --> 00:03:04.580 And we'll look at how the Bible tries to bring home to our hearts that moral and spiritual 00:03:04.580 --> 00:03:09.160 rules have an inadequacy and a powerlessness to them. 00:03:09.640 --> 00:03:14.980 That means that human beings both function in a different way and we need something different. 00:03:16.160 --> 00:03:20.520 In Romans 6, 15, it begins like this. 00:03:20.720 --> 00:03:26.640 What then are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? 00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:28.379 That's the question. 00:03:28.459 --> 00:03:29.759 The Bible asks us a question. 00:03:30.379 --> 00:03:33.819 Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? 00:03:34.359 --> 00:03:37.839 So for some of us, that's just sort of like it's in the middle of a conversation. 00:03:38.079 --> 00:03:39.899 It's in the middle of a sort of an argument. 00:03:40.259 --> 00:03:44.399 So we sort of need to set a little bit of a context for it to see why that's actually a 00:03:44.399 --> 00:03:50.899 very, on the face of it, especially from a human perspective, a religious or a spiritual 00:03:50.899 --> 00:03:51.539 perspective. 00:03:51.539 --> 00:03:53.179 It's a very reasonable question. 00:03:53.180 --> 00:03:55.219 So we have to do a couple of things. 00:03:55.319 --> 00:03:58.319 First, Andrew, if you could put Romans 1, 16 to 17 up there. 00:03:59.300 --> 00:04:04.680 If you've just a guest this morning, the way the book of Romans is written as a book 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:07.840 is that after there's a little bit of an introduction, you know, how are you? 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:08.319 I'm going to go. 00:04:08.420 --> 00:04:09.340 I'm going to come and visit you. 00:04:09.420 --> 00:04:10.420 You know, blah, blah, woof, woof. 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:18.139 That after that, Paul sort of writes in two sentences the basic message of the entire, 00:04:18.139 --> 00:04:22.879 what he's going to spend the next 15 and a half chapters talking about. 00:04:23.180 --> 00:04:26.300 And everything in the book of Romans sort of fits into this. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:30.100 So could you just say this text out loud with me? 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:37.500 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:41.540 who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:46.980 For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. 00:04:47.460 --> 00:04:50.800 As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:54.340 And it's a very, very powerful message. 00:04:54.460 --> 00:04:58.520 Paul's saying he's not ashamed of the gospel, even though in the Roman world he's going to 00:04:58.520 --> 00:05:03.740 talk about things which, you know, normal people would be embarrassed about or ashamed 00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:04.040 about. 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:09.879 You know, there's not many sexual things and other things nowadays that people are ashamed 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:10.120 about. 00:05:10.200 --> 00:05:14.640 But I think a lot of people are still ashamed if they have a family member who's doing hard 00:05:14.640 --> 00:05:17.920 time in a maximum security prison. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:24.980 When I was in my previous church, I was there for seven years before people would start to 00:05:24.980 --> 00:05:31.379 trust me with the fact that they were lying to all of their friends and family and neighbors 00:05:31.379 --> 00:05:33.800 about where some of their, where their sons were. 00:05:34.579 --> 00:05:38.139 They would say that they're up working in the oil rigs or they're off in California or 00:05:38.139 --> 00:05:38.860 they're in Australia. 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:46.000 And finally, they revealed to me that they were actually in Kingston Pen doing a long 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.699 time in jail for armed robbery. 00:05:48.459 --> 00:05:50.199 And they were deeply ashamed of it. 00:05:51.040 --> 00:05:55.519 And it took them seven years of knowing me before they would trust me with it. 00:05:55.620 --> 00:05:59.219 And they would, in a sense, swear me to secrecy that I couldn't tell others about it. 00:05:59.220 --> 00:06:05.240 And, you know, at the heart of the gospel is the story that Jesus dies as a convicted criminal 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:10.760 and dies a death which is so shameful that Roman citizens were not allowed to be put to 00:06:10.760 --> 00:06:14.940 death that way, no matter how bad they, what they'd done. 00:06:16.260 --> 00:06:22.340 And so it was very easy for Christians to be ashamed of this, that their founder died the 00:06:22.340 --> 00:06:25.240 death of a convicted slave, in a sense. 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:28.300 But Paul says he's not ashamed of the gospel. 00:06:28.460 --> 00:06:29.680 He's not ashamed of the message. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:34.220 That the message talks of that what he's, the gospel is a message. 00:06:34.740 --> 00:06:41.620 And the message is that God's power can come to bear and be at work in ordinary human beings 00:06:41.620 --> 00:06:42.819 like you and me. 00:06:43.400 --> 00:06:49.939 And that God's power is received not by our accomplishments, not by our merit, not by how 00:06:49.939 --> 00:06:55.759 successful we are, not by how religious or spiritual we are, but that God's power will 00:06:55.759 --> 00:07:00.959 come to bear upon us purely and utterly by putting our hands out and saying, we have no 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:04.199 merits, we have no accomplishments that matter to you. 00:07:04.459 --> 00:07:08.420 All we can do is trust you to make us right with yourself. 00:07:08.420 --> 00:07:15.040 And that's what Paul is continuing to say, that this is to everybody, to pagans and to people 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:16.680 who were growing up Jewish. 00:07:17.300 --> 00:07:22.640 And in the gospel, the righteousness of God, which means that God will act in the right way 00:07:22.640 --> 00:07:24.660 to make us right with himself. 00:07:25.379 --> 00:07:31.900 And that God, the power that comes from God for him to act in the right way to make us right 00:07:31.900 --> 00:07:35.379 with himself, that that is revealed. 00:07:35.379 --> 00:07:37.759 And we receive it from faith to faith. 00:07:38.939 --> 00:07:42.040 And that's what the whole book of Romans is about. 00:07:42.540 --> 00:07:46.560 That's, if you read the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, that's what they're all about. 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:55.100 That's the story of the coming to earth of the one who is ultimately, it's ultimately God 00:07:55.100 --> 00:07:58.259 doing something to make human beings right with himself. 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:00.500 And that's what the story is all about. 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:02.839 In fact, Andrew, if you could put up the first point. 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:08.659 Romans wants us to come, the gospel wants us to come to the point where we would say, 00:08:08.899 --> 00:08:10.939 I cannot make myself right with God. 00:08:11.599 --> 00:08:14.359 I cannot make myself right with God. 00:08:14.779 --> 00:08:24.959 The just God makes me right with himself by his grace alone, in Christ alone, received 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:26.299 by faith alone. 00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:30.740 I cannot make myself right with God. 00:08:30.819 --> 00:08:33.080 It doesn't matter if I've memorized the Apostles' Creed. 00:08:33.180 --> 00:08:35.620 It doesn't matter if I live the Ten Commandments perfectly. 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:37.720 It doesn't matter if I go to church all of the time. 00:08:38.019 --> 00:08:41.960 It doesn't matter if I've memorized the Koran in the original Arabic. 00:08:42.259 --> 00:08:44.820 Or if I've become a Buddhist monk. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:46.680 Or if I've become a Hindu monk. 00:08:46.680 --> 00:08:51.080 It doesn't matter if I've become as rich as the richest man or woman on the planet. 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:55.660 It doesn't matter if I'm as powerful as the most powerful President of the United States 00:08:55.660 --> 00:08:56.780 or the President of Russia. 00:08:57.060 --> 00:09:01.259 It doesn't matter if I'm strong or healthy or beautiful or good looking or any of these 00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:01.480 things. 00:09:01.780 --> 00:09:04.340 And on the same time, it doesn't matter if I'm a victim. 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:08.040 If I've been the most victimized person on the planet and therefore somehow or another 00:09:08.040 --> 00:09:11.900 the planet and the entire universe owes me because I am so victimized. 00:09:11.899 --> 00:09:17.019 The fact is the Gospel says all of that is completely and utterly irrelevant to God. 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:19.319 I cannot make myself right with God. 00:09:20.079 --> 00:09:21.220 The just God. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:24.379 God remaining completely and utterly just. 00:09:24.699 --> 00:09:27.860 Not by cutting us slack and ignoring justice. 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:33.919 But that the just God makes me right with himself by his grace alone. 00:09:34.340 --> 00:09:36.199 In Christ alone. 00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:38.079 By what he's done for us on the cross. 00:09:38.079 --> 00:09:40.860 And we receive it by faith alone. 00:09:41.899 --> 00:09:47.740 And so a very logical question to many people is this. 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:53.419 Well, if that's the case, George, does that mean I can completely ignore the Ten Commandments? 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:58.039 George, does that mean that I can cheat on my wife or cheat on my husband? 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:01.379 Does that mean that I can act as a slum landlord? 00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:03.179 Does that mean I could own slaves? 00:10:03.179 --> 00:10:08.639 Does that mean I could just do whatever I bleepity bleepity bleep please? 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:18.080 Because you're saying that Jesus says that God doesn't weigh our good things. 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:19.139 He doesn't weigh our merits. 00:10:19.220 --> 00:10:20.139 He just pardons us. 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:26.379 And if that's the case, George, why on earth should anybody pay any attention to anything in the Bible 00:10:26.379 --> 00:10:30.199 and any type of moral or spiritual rule to live their lives that way? 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:36.620 You can see that there's a certain degree of logic to asking that question. 00:10:37.340 --> 00:10:43.700 If, in fact, it is the case that the just God makes me right with himself by his grace alone, 00:10:43.820 --> 00:10:46.259 in Christ alone, received by faith alone. 00:10:46.259 --> 00:10:55.039 Now, the Bible is going to, Paul is now going to try to deal with this. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:59.899 And, in fact, let's look at verse, let's read verse 15 and 16 again. 00:11:00.559 --> 00:11:06.319 And after you've read verse 15 and 16, many of us are going to be more confused than we already are. 00:11:07.059 --> 00:11:08.039 And that's fine. 00:11:08.039 --> 00:11:14.799 Because, you know, reading the Bible isn't always like following the instructions on your bank machine. 00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:22.779 Like, some parts of the Bible can't just be instantly grasped. 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:27.419 They require reflection and thinking. 00:11:28.579 --> 00:11:30.679 Let's listen to verse 15 and 16 again. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:31.240 What then? 00:11:31.319 --> 00:11:34.860 Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? 00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:37.500 And Paul gives the brief answer. 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:38.519 By no means. 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:41.259 It could also be translated as absolutely not. 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:42.120 No way. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:44.159 You got it completely and utterly wrong. 00:11:44.899 --> 00:11:46.320 Not the answer. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:47.740 I mean, that's what he says. 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:51.159 In the original language, it would be like bolded. 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:52.580 You know, absolutely not. 00:11:53.259 --> 00:11:56.919 And then in verse 16, he gives, in a sense, the heart of the image. 00:11:57.860 --> 00:12:02.379 And I'm going to spend a bit of time just on verse 16 because once we sort of, in a sense, 00:12:02.379 --> 00:12:07.639 get the image into our heart, most of the rest of what he says starts to make a lot more sense. 00:12:08.299 --> 00:12:10.179 But at first, it doesn't seem to make sense. 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:11.659 It says, verse 16, 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:17.019 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:20.480 you are slaves of the one whom you obey, 00:12:21.139 --> 00:12:23.659 either of sin, which leads to death, 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:26.379 or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 00:12:26.740 --> 00:12:27.340 Isn't that clear? 00:12:28.159 --> 00:12:29.200 I should just finish right now. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:31.560 We've all got a complete latterly in our mind. 00:12:32.680 --> 00:12:34.180 Maybe I'm just dumber than you folks. 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:36.440 When I first read that, I think, good grief. 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:38.780 You know, you read it in your devotions all the time, 00:12:38.840 --> 00:12:40.720 but when you actually have to explain it to somebody, you think, 00:12:41.280 --> 00:12:44.379 ah, okay, that's an interesting long sentence. 00:12:44.740 --> 00:12:45.400 I'll read it again. 00:12:45.400 --> 00:12:50.340 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:53.040 you are slaves of the one whom you obey, 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:55.819 either of sin, which leads to death, 00:12:56.219 --> 00:12:59.279 or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:02.779 So let's try to unpack that. 00:13:02.839 --> 00:13:04.419 We're just going to sort of camp there for a second, 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:05.620 try to understand it. 00:13:06.759 --> 00:13:10.740 And at the heart of all of this is Paul is going to try to say some things 00:13:10.740 --> 00:13:12.559 about what it means to be human. 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:16.279 And if we have a bit of an understanding about what it means to be human, 00:13:16.859 --> 00:13:24.500 then we understand how it is that the cross and Jesus changes us. 00:13:25.579 --> 00:13:27.839 So first of all, let's just be honest for a second. 00:13:27.979 --> 00:13:29.539 I'm going to just close the Bible, put it down. 00:13:29.799 --> 00:13:31.079 Let's just be honest for a second. 00:13:31.779 --> 00:13:36.439 The fact of the matter is that we're actually quite confused 00:13:36.439 --> 00:13:41.039 and ambiguous about moral and spiritual rules and other rules in general. 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:46.240 In fact, I think it would be fair to say that people don't need more rules. 00:13:47.579 --> 00:13:49.959 Okay, the fact of the matter is that every single person here 00:13:49.959 --> 00:13:52.459 probably knows rules to lose weight. 00:13:54.219 --> 00:13:57.360 We all probably know enough rules to be in better shape. 00:13:57.959 --> 00:14:01.679 We probably already know enough rules to be better off financially. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:07.000 We all probably know enough rules to have better relationships, 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:09.819 better dating relationships and better marriages. 00:14:09.820 --> 00:14:16.560 And how many people here in all of those categories follow the rules 100%, 100% of the time? 00:14:16.740 --> 00:14:19.800 If you put your hand up, nobody else in the room will believe you. 00:14:21.080 --> 00:14:22.260 Without an exception. 00:14:22.820 --> 00:14:23.740 We won't believe you. 00:14:25.020 --> 00:14:26.780 And so if we're just honest for a second, 00:14:26.900 --> 00:14:31.460 we can't on one hand complain about what Paul is going to say with the gospel 00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:39.000 because we understand perfectly how rule working works in moral and spiritual and practical things. 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:40.720 And we understand how that works. 00:14:41.060 --> 00:14:43.540 Human beings, we understand how human beings work. 00:14:43.620 --> 00:14:44.940 We understand how to do it perfectly. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.960 And so therefore, Paul, what you're saying in the Bible doesn't make any sense. 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:53.840 Right off the bat, we have to do a little bit of a time out and say, 00:14:53.840 --> 00:14:58.519 okay, one second, folks, whatever the gospel is going to have to say about rule keeping, 00:14:59.300 --> 00:15:03.700 let's just be honest that we don't really understand how human beings work with rule keeping. 00:15:04.800 --> 00:15:09.980 That there's a fundamental bit of a cluelessness and inconsistency about us. 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:14.700 And in fact, one of the things which often mobilizes human beings is that, 00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:16.660 you know, there's certain, maybe certain areas, 00:15:16.860 --> 00:15:22.420 maybe we're spectacular rule keepers with money or with diet or with exercise or with relationships, 00:15:23.020 --> 00:15:25.420 but we're not spectacular across the board. 00:15:25.740 --> 00:15:33.220 But we often can be very judgmental with people who are weak in rule keeping areas that we're strong in. 00:15:33.660 --> 00:15:35.060 And we're just very confused. 00:15:36.220 --> 00:15:37.500 And Paul would say, 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:40.220 if you just sort of bear with me for a second, 00:15:40.220 --> 00:15:43.000 and you think about this analogy, 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:45.000 and what I'm saying, 00:15:45.940 --> 00:15:51.539 you'll start to realize that the Bible has actually profound wisdom. 00:15:51.740 --> 00:15:53.299 And so here's the very first thing. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:55.580 We're going to go through these first ones fairly quick, I hope. 00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:57.899 Andrew, if you could put up the next point. 00:15:59.700 --> 00:16:01.779 Human autonomy is an illusion. 00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:06.779 Human autonomy is an illusion. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:12.779 Human autonomy is one of the greatest values in Canada and the United States. 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:16.120 Look at advertisements. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:18.340 Human autonomy. 00:16:18.639 --> 00:16:20.259 They used to talk about Freedom 55. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:23.639 I'm on the Freedom 75 plan myself. 00:16:24.340 --> 00:16:27.259 But, you know, financial freedom at 55. 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:31.240 And, you know, you get this car and there's a type of freedom or liberty to it. 00:16:31.259 --> 00:16:32.120 You wear this perfume. 00:16:32.279 --> 00:16:32.980 You get the jacket. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:33.919 You get the watch. 00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:38.139 Consumerism is often all about you deserve freedom. 00:16:38.139 --> 00:16:41.399 And if you buy this consumer thing, you will have freedom. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:45.199 And a lot of things in newspapers are all about this whole idea of freedom 00:16:45.199 --> 00:16:47.439 and understood as a type of human autonomy. 00:16:47.699 --> 00:16:49.519 It's a great value in Canada. 00:16:49.740 --> 00:16:52.980 But the Bible is going to say that human autonomy is an illusion. 00:16:54.059 --> 00:16:56.799 In fact, actually, it's very interesting that in our culture, 00:16:56.899 --> 00:16:59.100 if you just take a step back from the Bible for a second, 00:16:59.199 --> 00:17:04.619 that in our culture, many scientists and philosophers believe that human beings have no freedom whatsoever. 00:17:04.619 --> 00:17:09.039 That every single thing that a human being does is controlled. 00:17:10.479 --> 00:17:14.579 Often, lots of psychotherapy all talks about how, at the end of the day, 00:17:14.919 --> 00:17:21.119 we are thinking, our feeling, our desires are the product of forces that are beyond our control. 00:17:21.459 --> 00:17:25.239 That even today, I don't know, you know, your mom didn't like you enough when you were a kid. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:27.239 Or your father didn't pay enough attention to you. 00:17:27.299 --> 00:17:30.039 Or, you know, that people said nasty things to you. 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:32.979 And it explains why you can't, you know, you can't keep a commitment. 00:17:32.980 --> 00:17:34.180 Or you have to go to the bottle. 00:17:34.299 --> 00:17:35.259 Or you have to take drugs. 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:36.980 Or you're driven to succeed. 00:17:37.220 --> 00:17:42.720 And it's easy for us to explain each other away in terms of forces that are beyond our control. 00:17:42.819 --> 00:17:47.519 Yet, at the same time, we have human autonomy as a huge value. 00:17:47.660 --> 00:17:49.839 And the Bible, before it's going to say other things about this, 00:17:49.880 --> 00:17:51.860 it's going to say that human autonomy is an illusion. 00:17:53.700 --> 00:17:56.460 In fact, you see, from the perspective of human autonomy, 00:17:56.980 --> 00:17:59.940 all you need is you need, I'm an autonomous person. 00:17:59.940 --> 00:18:03.380 I choose the rules I want to obey, I want to follow, and I just follow them. 00:18:04.580 --> 00:18:07.000 But the Bible's going to say that human autonomy is an illusion. 00:18:07.420 --> 00:18:10.160 The second thing is, but it's going to say it in a way which isn't cynical. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:13.799 Remember, those of you who have come to the church before, 00:18:13.900 --> 00:18:15.519 is the Bible is never cynical. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:20.480 The Bible is always realistic, but it's never cynical. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:24.660 And it's easy to say, oh, human autonomy is an illusion. 00:18:24.819 --> 00:18:30.240 And you can just picture somebody that are having a $27 breakfast at some hip cafe, 00:18:30.980 --> 00:18:35.299 drinking beans where they actually, coffee and the beans, 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:38.960 they actually know who grew the beans and what they like for breakfast. 00:18:39.259 --> 00:18:40.720 And human autonomy is an illusion. 00:18:40.920 --> 00:18:44.480 And it can be a cynical type of thing that actually can justify consumerism 00:18:45.099 --> 00:18:46.940 and all sorts of irresponsible behavior. 00:18:46.940 --> 00:18:50.720 But the Bible is never cynical, ever. 00:18:51.120 --> 00:18:54.900 But it always speaks the heart, the reality of the human heart 00:18:54.900 --> 00:18:56.380 and the presence of the living God. 00:18:57.100 --> 00:19:00.240 The second, next point, Andrew, here's the song. 00:19:01.240 --> 00:19:07.279 The Bible is going to say here that human beings got to serve somebody or something. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:09.840 I'm just going to disagree with Dylan a little bit. 00:19:10.100 --> 00:19:12.900 The choice isn't between you serve the devil or serve the Lord. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:16.039 The devil's always trying to make it look like he's more important than he is. 00:19:16.039 --> 00:19:20.399 But the Bible is going to teach. 00:19:20.460 --> 00:19:22.859 That's what Paul is saying here in Romans 16, 00:19:23.940 --> 00:19:25.759 is that the choice between you, 00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:30.440 the choice for human beings is not service or autonomy, 00:19:31.099 --> 00:19:34.200 but who you serve or what you serve. 00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:36.220 And that's always the human choice. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:40.720 Because human beings are made in such a way 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:43.960 that we're always giving ourselves to something, 00:19:44.059 --> 00:19:48.400 that there's something or some person or some project or some idea 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:51.539 that makes sense of our life to us, 00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:54.019 that makes certain things seem wise, 00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:55.980 that certain things seem unwise, 00:19:56.180 --> 00:19:59.460 that there are certain things that we have to have. 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:03.500 And it's because there are those certain things that we have to have, 00:20:03.740 --> 00:20:05.839 those certain things that help us to understand 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:09.019 how the world works and what we need to flourish. 00:20:09.579 --> 00:20:13.379 And that often explains why we do things 00:20:13.379 --> 00:20:18.159 and why we disregard moral laws or spiritual laws or other laws. 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:23.799 You know, maybe it's that at a certain age, 00:20:24.199 --> 00:20:26.740 that for a guy that he has to have a girlfriend, 00:20:27.139 --> 00:20:29.119 or for a girl, a young woman, 00:20:29.220 --> 00:20:31.619 that she has to have a man in her life. 00:20:31.619 --> 00:20:34.259 And that might be completely, 00:20:34.479 --> 00:20:37.739 he or she might be completely, utterly unaware of it, 00:20:37.799 --> 00:20:41.779 but it drives them as something that they need to have 00:20:41.779 --> 00:20:43.439 for their life to have meaning, 00:20:43.539 --> 00:20:45.179 their life to have make sense, 00:20:45.259 --> 00:20:46.399 their life to have fulfillment. 00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:49.500 And so it leads them to breaking friendships, 00:20:49.779 --> 00:20:53.139 and it leads them to maybe spending money foolishly, 00:20:53.239 --> 00:20:57.259 and it leads you to maybe doing things in terms of sexual knowing 00:20:57.259 --> 00:20:59.639 that in your heart of hearts, in your mind of minds, 00:20:59.639 --> 00:21:00.839 you know it doesn't actually work, 00:21:00.839 --> 00:21:02.019 it's sort of foolish, 00:21:02.179 --> 00:21:04.119 but there's sort of a driving for that 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:06.359 all of the time going on in your life. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:08.779 And the fact is that a lot of us, 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:12.299 what we do is driven by what we think 00:21:12.299 --> 00:21:14.939 is of ultimate value in our lives. 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:18.539 And that explains, actually, 00:21:19.019 --> 00:21:20.179 because human beings, 00:21:20.659 --> 00:21:22.519 we give ourselves to something, 00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:24.079 we serve something. 00:21:24.699 --> 00:21:26.480 And in fact, as the Bible explains, 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:27.859 in other places apart from here, 00:21:27.959 --> 00:21:28.879 Paul doesn't do it here, 00:21:28.879 --> 00:21:30.399 he's trying to make a more general point, 00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:33.019 that the fundamental problem for most human beings 00:21:33.019 --> 00:21:35.199 is that we don't just serve something or someone, 00:21:35.439 --> 00:21:36.539 we serve legion. 00:21:39.259 --> 00:21:41.000 We serve legion. 00:21:42.019 --> 00:21:44.599 And I'm not using that as an analogy for demons, 00:21:45.059 --> 00:21:48.619 but we serve multiple and contradictory idols. 00:21:48.619 --> 00:21:55.779 And that's what actually goes on in the human heart 00:21:55.779 --> 00:21:58.899 and in the human life. 00:22:00.139 --> 00:22:02.919 And then here's the next point, Andrew, 00:22:02.979 --> 00:22:03.679 if you could put it up. 00:22:04.479 --> 00:22:06.339 When I am redeemed by Jesus, 00:22:07.159 --> 00:22:09.599 I do not become less human. 00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:12.739 I begin to become more human. 00:22:12.740 --> 00:22:16.839 The average person in Canada 00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:18.759 does not believe that this would be true. 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:22.400 They would believe that to become a Christian, 00:22:22.539 --> 00:22:23.539 a follower of Jesus, 00:22:23.940 --> 00:22:25.380 is to move towards 00:22:25.380 --> 00:22:28.339 looking like you eat lemons all the time, 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:29.640 that you'll have a sour, 00:22:30.140 --> 00:22:30.620 grumpy, 00:22:31.120 --> 00:22:32.620 frowny face. 00:22:33.019 --> 00:22:34.279 Like you've always just, 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:36.240 you smell a fart, 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:39.799 and your nose is all screwed up 00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:41.980 because you just walk around in life 00:22:41.980 --> 00:22:43.220 and everything just stinks 00:22:43.220 --> 00:22:44.460 and everything just smells. 00:22:45.059 --> 00:22:46.839 And you have to give away your money 00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:48.279 and you have to do weird things 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:49.120 with your sexuality 00:22:49.120 --> 00:22:51.160 and you have to kiss your brains goodbye. 00:22:51.819 --> 00:22:53.660 And that would be the fundamental way 00:22:53.660 --> 00:22:56.220 that Canadians often view the Christian faith. 00:22:57.180 --> 00:22:58.700 But at the heart of the Christian faith 00:22:58.700 --> 00:23:01.880 is that if we understand the gospel, 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:02.839 we understand the Bible, 00:23:03.099 --> 00:23:04.799 is that when I am redeemed by Jesus, 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:06.899 I do not become less human. 00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:10.960 I begin to become more human. 00:23:12.980 --> 00:23:16.740 Now, here's where we're still 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:19.480 just camping in Romans 6.16. 00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:21.079 One of the problems 00:23:21.079 --> 00:23:22.259 with reading the book of Romans 00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:24.779 is that the word which is translated as slave 00:23:24.779 --> 00:23:26.879 is the word doulos. 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:28.579 I don't know if I'm pronouncing it correctly 00:23:28.579 --> 00:23:30.059 because I don't speak Greek. 00:23:30.339 --> 00:23:31.799 I read common... 00:23:31.799 --> 00:23:33.399 But I know that that's the word doulos. 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:36.040 And the problem is that there's no real equivalent 00:23:36.040 --> 00:23:36.860 in English. 00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:38.700 Those of you who have been here before 00:23:38.700 --> 00:23:40.800 know that there's no real equivalent in English. 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:43.880 Some of your Bibles translate that as slave 00:23:43.880 --> 00:23:45.740 and some of them translate them as servant. 00:23:46.259 --> 00:23:48.280 And neither word really fits. 00:23:48.560 --> 00:23:50.220 The problem with servant is 00:23:50.220 --> 00:23:51.300 as soon as you see servant, 00:23:51.380 --> 00:23:52.560 you think Downton Abbey. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:56.359 And you think the head servant. 00:23:56.819 --> 00:24:00.480 And they speak with a really, really cool English accent. 00:24:01.319 --> 00:24:02.619 They're aristocratic. 00:24:03.099 --> 00:24:04.259 They're competent. 00:24:05.259 --> 00:24:07.139 And maybe if we're not thinking of Downton Abbey, 00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:08.179 maybe we're thinking of things like 00:24:08.179 --> 00:24:09.399 the Fresh Prince of Valer 00:24:09.399 --> 00:24:10.799 or other types of things 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:13.559 where the servant is the smartest person in the family 00:24:13.559 --> 00:24:17.059 and sort of runs the family 00:24:17.059 --> 00:24:18.740 and bosses the family around. 00:24:18.859 --> 00:24:21.579 And that's definitely not what is meant by doulos. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:23.079 The other problem is that 00:24:23.079 --> 00:24:24.519 when we think of the word slave, 00:24:24.619 --> 00:24:26.700 we think of movies like Django Unchained. 00:24:27.259 --> 00:24:30.220 We think of the atrocities going on with ISIS 00:24:30.220 --> 00:24:32.659 and the reintroduction of slavery 00:24:32.659 --> 00:24:35.379 and other types of Islamist extremist groups 00:24:35.380 --> 00:24:39.920 and the type of complete and utter violence 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:42.600 and degradation done to other human beings, 00:24:43.040 --> 00:24:46.660 just as in the worst of the American South has happened. 00:24:46.860 --> 00:24:48.660 And that's not what's meant as well. 00:24:49.100 --> 00:24:50.800 At the time that Paul was writing this, 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:52.220 in this original context, 00:24:52.860 --> 00:24:55.600 one-third of the Roman Empire were doulos. 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:57.120 One-third. 00:24:58.820 --> 00:25:00.360 And I don't know how they figure this out, 00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:03.260 but anthropologists have figured out 00:25:03.259 --> 00:25:07.259 that in the first several decades of the Christian church, 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:11.920 70% of people in church were doulos. 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:14.920 70%. 00:25:14.920 --> 00:25:17.519 Over double the figure in the empire. 00:25:19.420 --> 00:25:22.200 And so the people... 00:25:22.200 --> 00:25:23.420 And here's the thing with doulos, 00:25:23.619 --> 00:25:24.980 is that if you read the Bible, 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:27.279 if you read the story in the book of Acts 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:28.680 about the Ethiopian eunuch, 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:30.680 he was a doulos. 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:34.320 But he was, in our terms, 00:25:34.980 --> 00:25:39.039 he was the head of the Bank of Canada 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:40.940 and the finance minister 00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:42.779 and the controller general of Canada 00:25:42.779 --> 00:25:44.299 and all of those things, 00:25:44.440 --> 00:25:45.259 and he was a doulos. 00:25:45.580 --> 00:25:47.560 If you read the book of Daniel, 00:25:48.539 --> 00:25:51.120 Daniel and his friends were doulos. 00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:55.980 And yet Daniel managed whole parts 00:25:55.980 --> 00:25:57.660 of the Babylonian Empire. 00:25:57.660 --> 00:26:00.340 So that in the Roman Empire, 00:26:01.040 --> 00:26:05.019 a doulos could have very, very high positions 00:26:05.019 --> 00:26:07.140 and be very, very powerful and prestigious. 00:26:07.900 --> 00:26:09.860 They also, of course, could be like, 00:26:10.300 --> 00:26:12.680 you know, slaves rowing in a galley 00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:15.620 and be treated abysmally and terribly, 00:26:15.779 --> 00:26:17.120 but the range was quite wide. 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:18.840 But the key word, 00:26:19.120 --> 00:26:20.600 the key understanding of doulos 00:26:20.600 --> 00:26:22.440 is that you didn't belong to yourself. 00:26:23.259 --> 00:26:24.880 You belonged to another person, 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:26.900 and you were under the direction 00:26:26.900 --> 00:26:28.400 and the authority of another person. 00:26:30.100 --> 00:26:31.720 And so Paul is saying 00:26:31.720 --> 00:26:33.840 that human beings, 00:26:34.120 --> 00:26:34.720 at the end of the day, 00:26:34.760 --> 00:26:36.020 don't belong to themselves. 00:26:38.500 --> 00:26:39.660 And we ultimately 00:26:39.660 --> 00:26:42.820 take direction from something 00:26:42.820 --> 00:26:45.620 and give ourselves to something 00:26:45.620 --> 00:26:47.260 and obey something 00:26:47.260 --> 00:26:49.560 that we understand to be our highest good. 00:26:49.620 --> 00:26:50.480 The thing that we need, 00:26:50.560 --> 00:26:51.960 the thing of ultimate importance, 00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:53.960 the thing that if we don't attain it, 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:55.819 it creates anxiety within us. 00:26:57.220 --> 00:26:59.380 And we all share different idols. 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:01.940 And we all have multiple idols. 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:04.920 And so Paul is saying 00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:07.860 that that's just the way human beings are. 00:27:07.980 --> 00:27:08.779 It's the way we need. 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:11.980 And when we become a follower of Jesus, 00:27:12.340 --> 00:27:15.100 it isn't that that giving of ourselves 00:27:15.100 --> 00:27:16.240 and belonging to another 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:17.360 comes to an end, 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:19.519 but it's changed. 00:27:19.639 --> 00:27:22.399 It's changed in a profound way. 00:27:23.679 --> 00:27:25.019 Andrew, if you could put up the next point. 00:27:26.219 --> 00:27:27.679 I either serve, 00:27:28.139 --> 00:27:29.539 I will be like God, 00:27:30.059 --> 00:27:31.119 or God himself. 00:27:32.219 --> 00:27:33.159 That's the choice. 00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:34.459 You see, 00:27:34.819 --> 00:27:36.299 the word sin here 00:27:36.299 --> 00:27:38.059 is a bit of a complicated word. 00:27:38.099 --> 00:27:38.779 If we're honest, 00:27:38.859 --> 00:27:40.079 it's a complicated word 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:41.639 for post-modern Canadians 00:27:41.639 --> 00:27:43.859 and for Christians living in Canada 00:27:43.859 --> 00:27:45.059 in the year 2015. 00:27:45.059 --> 00:27:46.379 For many people, 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:47.539 when we see the word sin, 00:27:47.619 --> 00:27:48.619 we think of sex. 00:27:50.440 --> 00:27:50.779 In fact, 00:27:50.839 --> 00:27:53.079 many people outside of the church, 00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:54.179 and that always influences 00:27:54.179 --> 00:27:55.220 how Christians think, 00:27:56.000 --> 00:27:57.220 when they see the word sin, 00:27:57.720 --> 00:27:58.919 when they hear Christians 00:27:58.919 --> 00:27:59.819 talking about sinners, 00:28:00.019 --> 00:28:00.339 they think, 00:28:00.419 --> 00:28:01.740 oh, that means they don't do 00:28:01.740 --> 00:28:02.559 sexual things 00:28:02.559 --> 00:28:03.700 the way the Bible should say. 00:28:04.039 --> 00:28:05.679 But that's not what sin means. 00:28:06.519 --> 00:28:07.440 And for others, 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:08.179 within the church, 00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:09.500 when we see the word sin, 00:28:09.919 --> 00:28:10.619 we think of, 00:28:10.700 --> 00:28:11.039 like, 00:28:11.159 --> 00:28:13.000 real obvious evil things. 00:28:13.000 --> 00:28:15.400 We think of punching innocent people, 00:28:15.619 --> 00:28:18.099 or we think of owning slaves, 00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:19.460 or being a slum landlord. 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:20.400 If you don't think of that, 00:28:20.460 --> 00:28:21.240 you should think of that, 00:28:21.299 --> 00:28:21.700 by the way. 00:28:22.380 --> 00:28:22.900 You know, 00:28:22.940 --> 00:28:24.940 we think of just great injustice, 00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:25.980 or great hatred. 00:28:26.460 --> 00:28:27.579 But that's actually not 00:28:27.579 --> 00:28:29.000 what the word sin means either. 00:28:29.079 --> 00:28:29.859 It's included in it, 00:28:29.900 --> 00:28:30.619 but it's not actually 00:28:30.619 --> 00:28:31.579 what sin means. 00:28:32.859 --> 00:28:34.279 Because sin includes 00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:36.579 soccer moms in Canada. 00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:39.180 It includes billionaires. 00:28:39.180 --> 00:28:41.279 It includes movie actors, 00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:42.279 and actresses, 00:28:42.360 --> 00:28:42.660 and very, 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:44.000 very successful people. 00:28:44.920 --> 00:28:46.500 But when you think of the word sin, 00:28:46.700 --> 00:28:48.580 and Paul does it very helpfully 00:28:48.580 --> 00:28:49.820 here in verse 16, 00:28:50.220 --> 00:28:51.440 he's trying to help us 00:28:51.440 --> 00:28:52.759 to go back to the garden, 00:28:53.320 --> 00:28:54.580 and to Genesis 3. 00:28:55.380 --> 00:28:57.220 And at the heart of all sin, 00:28:57.519 --> 00:28:59.580 is I will be like God. 00:28:59.579 --> 00:29:05.220 And my desire to be like God, 00:29:06.279 --> 00:29:09.159 and therefore establish my own order, 00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:12.199 my own worth, 00:29:12.659 --> 00:29:14.000 my own value, 00:29:14.339 --> 00:29:15.579 my own ownership, 00:29:16.139 --> 00:29:17.720 and my own control. 00:29:20.460 --> 00:29:23.099 And that can take the form of 00:29:23.099 --> 00:29:24.960 even generosity. 00:29:26.099 --> 00:29:28.259 Because we assert ourselves 00:29:28.259 --> 00:29:29.220 by being generous. 00:29:29.220 --> 00:29:31.259 We give to create obligation. 00:29:31.519 --> 00:29:33.759 We give to make people in our debt. 00:29:34.839 --> 00:29:36.559 It can be all part of 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:38.319 our self-justification project, 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:39.940 our self-righteousness project. 00:29:40.600 --> 00:29:41.880 It can all be part of our, 00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:42.680 just our rules, 00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:43.620 but at the heart of it 00:29:43.620 --> 00:29:46.799 isn't the most extreme forms of sin, 00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:49.319 but it's an awareness of this fact 00:29:49.319 --> 00:29:50.279 that in the garden, 00:29:50.940 --> 00:29:53.400 we didn't want to accept God as God 00:29:53.400 --> 00:29:54.759 and us as creatures. 00:29:54.759 --> 00:29:58.000 But we want it to disregard 00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:59.180 his words, 00:29:59.379 --> 00:30:01.140 and disregard his order, 00:30:01.420 --> 00:30:03.099 and disregard the good, 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:04.960 and be our own good, 00:30:05.099 --> 00:30:06.140 and be our own gods. 00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:08.339 And all sin is at heart. 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:09.640 Genesis 3. 00:30:11.140 --> 00:30:12.720 Every time you read the Bible, 00:30:12.839 --> 00:30:14.680 but especially as you read the book of Romans, 00:30:15.140 --> 00:30:17.019 that it's all about 00:30:17.019 --> 00:30:18.980 being like God. 00:30:18.980 --> 00:30:20.460 So I either serve, 00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:22.700 I will be like God, 00:30:22.779 --> 00:30:23.839 or God himself. 00:30:24.700 --> 00:30:25.819 Now here's the problem. 00:30:26.519 --> 00:30:27.519 The problem is 00:30:27.519 --> 00:30:30.099 that I can't leave myself now 00:30:30.099 --> 00:30:31.160 to fix myself. 00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:32.660 It doesn't matter 00:30:32.660 --> 00:30:34.380 if I have an out-of-body experience. 00:30:34.579 --> 00:30:35.180 It doesn't matter 00:30:35.180 --> 00:30:36.440 if I do dream work. 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:37.460 It doesn't matter 00:30:37.460 --> 00:30:38.680 if I go into trances. 00:30:38.900 --> 00:30:39.559 It doesn't matter 00:30:39.559 --> 00:30:43.279 if I spend all my time in church 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:44.500 or all my time in prayer. 00:30:44.500 --> 00:30:45.700 The fact of the matter is 00:30:45.700 --> 00:30:47.059 I can't leave myself 00:30:47.059 --> 00:30:48.019 to fix myself, 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:48.779 which is why 00:30:48.779 --> 00:30:50.259 the heart of the Bible 00:30:50.259 --> 00:30:51.500 is to get us to come 00:30:51.500 --> 00:30:52.539 to the point in time 00:30:52.539 --> 00:30:53.640 when we realize 00:30:53.640 --> 00:30:55.700 that we can't leave ourselves 00:30:55.700 --> 00:30:57.059 to fix ourselves, 00:30:57.359 --> 00:30:58.640 and that living a life 00:30:58.640 --> 00:30:59.400 centered around 00:30:59.400 --> 00:31:00.779 I will be like God 00:31:00.779 --> 00:31:02.539 only leads to brokenness 00:31:02.539 --> 00:31:04.559 and does not defeat death, 00:31:04.859 --> 00:31:05.559 and the hope 00:31:05.559 --> 00:31:07.359 that we come to the point in time 00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:08.019 when we say 00:31:08.019 --> 00:31:09.460 only God, 00:31:10.420 --> 00:31:11.960 only God, 00:31:11.960 --> 00:31:14.680 only He 00:31:14.680 --> 00:31:16.440 can justify me. 00:31:16.600 --> 00:31:17.779 Only He 00:31:17.779 --> 00:31:19.200 can make me right 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:20.100 with Himself. 00:31:20.380 --> 00:31:21.360 Only He 00:31:21.360 --> 00:31:22.700 can make me right 00:31:22.700 --> 00:31:24.880 with His created order. 00:31:25.980 --> 00:31:26.319 Which is why 00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:27.380 in the book of Colossians 00:31:27.380 --> 00:31:28.460 it's this cosmic thing, 00:31:28.539 --> 00:31:29.100 this idea that 00:31:29.100 --> 00:31:29.940 it's not just that 00:31:29.940 --> 00:31:31.360 you're made right with God, 00:31:31.460 --> 00:31:32.600 but God is the creator 00:31:32.600 --> 00:31:33.600 of all things. 00:31:33.980 --> 00:31:35.220 It's why it touches 00:31:35.220 --> 00:31:37.100 ecological sin 00:31:37.100 --> 00:31:38.360 and economic sin 00:31:38.360 --> 00:31:40.220 and national sin. 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:41.819 It's a big idea. 00:31:41.819 --> 00:31:42.599 It's not just some 00:31:42.599 --> 00:31:44.259 private spiritual experience 00:31:44.259 --> 00:31:45.179 between us and God. 00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:46.859 It's that only God 00:31:46.859 --> 00:31:47.720 can make me right 00:31:47.720 --> 00:31:48.179 with Him 00:31:48.179 --> 00:31:49.639 and His order. 00:31:49.960 --> 00:31:51.079 Him as creator 00:31:51.079 --> 00:31:52.059 and me as creature. 00:31:52.220 --> 00:31:52.960 Only God. 00:31:55.419 --> 00:31:55.679 And so, 00:31:56.059 --> 00:31:57.339 the heart of the gospel 00:31:57.339 --> 00:31:58.379 is that, 00:31:58.960 --> 00:31:59.240 I mean, 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:00.039 we just have a wooden 00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:00.759 cross up here, 00:32:00.859 --> 00:32:01.839 but the gospel says 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:02.819 that this is real. 00:32:03.419 --> 00:32:04.859 It's why Christians insist 00:32:04.859 --> 00:32:05.519 that when you read 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:06.460 Matthew, Mark, Luke, 00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:07.200 and John and Acts, 00:32:07.259 --> 00:32:08.639 you're reading history. 00:32:08.640 --> 00:32:12.860 that God really exists, 00:32:13.340 --> 00:32:15.660 that He really shows up 00:32:15.660 --> 00:32:16.420 in our neighborhood, 00:32:16.560 --> 00:32:18.759 that He really sends Jesus, 00:32:18.940 --> 00:32:20.960 that Jesus really is God, 00:32:21.060 --> 00:32:22.040 the Son of God, 00:32:22.600 --> 00:32:24.500 setting aside His divine prerogatives, 00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:25.480 taking into Himself 00:32:25.480 --> 00:32:26.340 our human nature, 00:32:26.500 --> 00:32:28.040 that He really does come 00:32:28.040 --> 00:32:28.880 and walk amongst us, 00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:30.259 that He really does live 00:32:30.259 --> 00:32:31.360 the sinless life 00:32:31.360 --> 00:32:32.259 that we could not live, 00:32:32.320 --> 00:32:33.259 that He really does 00:32:33.259 --> 00:32:34.080 perform miracles, 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:35.579 that He really does 00:32:35.579 --> 00:32:36.699 act with power, 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:38.319 and that He really does 00:32:38.319 --> 00:32:39.699 die upon the cross, 00:32:39.960 --> 00:32:40.819 and that His death 00:32:40.819 --> 00:32:41.859 upon the cross, 00:32:42.199 --> 00:32:43.599 this act of humiliation 00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:45.919 before imperialistic powers 00:32:45.919 --> 00:32:46.740 and religion 00:32:46.740 --> 00:32:47.539 and spirituality 00:32:47.539 --> 00:32:49.019 and the best of the military 00:32:49.019 --> 00:32:50.339 and the best of the academy 00:32:50.339 --> 00:32:52.039 and the best of intellectual 00:32:52.039 --> 00:32:52.839 and moral life, 00:32:53.019 --> 00:32:54.519 and that crucifies 00:32:54.519 --> 00:32:54.939 Jesus, 00:32:55.119 --> 00:32:55.859 the Son of God, 00:32:56.000 --> 00:32:57.399 and that this apparent 00:32:57.399 --> 00:32:58.079 defeat 00:32:58.079 --> 00:32:59.119 and humiliation 00:32:59.119 --> 00:32:59.699 of God, 00:32:59.779 --> 00:33:00.519 the Son of God, 00:33:00.579 --> 00:33:02.720 is actually God's power 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:04.200 to free us. 00:33:07.880 --> 00:33:08.920 Looking beneath 00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:09.920 the appearances, 00:33:11.299 --> 00:33:13.680 that Jesus goes 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:16.420 deep, deep, deep, deep, 00:33:16.500 --> 00:33:18.019 however deep we have fallen, 00:33:18.100 --> 00:33:19.400 He goes deeper still 00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:20.140 to get us 00:33:20.140 --> 00:33:21.019 and to bring us up. 00:33:22.500 --> 00:33:23.559 And that when we put 00:33:23.559 --> 00:33:24.640 our faith and trust 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:25.299 in Jesus, 00:33:26.140 --> 00:33:27.640 there is a transfer 00:33:27.640 --> 00:33:28.759 of ownership. 00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:32.200 I no longer 00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:34.400 belong to 00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:35.720 I will live 00:33:35.720 --> 00:33:37.920 like I will be God. 00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:41.920 That God Himself 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:43.660 now owns me. 00:33:45.380 --> 00:33:46.580 And God Himself 00:33:46.580 --> 00:33:48.160 owns you 00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:49.799 when you put your faith 00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:50.779 and trust in Jesus. 00:33:51.860 --> 00:33:53.500 That there's a real 00:33:53.500 --> 00:33:54.720 transfer 00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:56.380 of authority 00:33:56.380 --> 00:33:57.980 to the real God 00:33:57.980 --> 00:33:59.660 that really does exist. 00:33:59.660 --> 00:33:59.779 Christ. 00:34:02.180 --> 00:34:03.300 And that's 00:34:03.300 --> 00:34:04.519 what Paul 00:34:04.519 --> 00:34:05.160 is trying 00:34:05.160 --> 00:34:07.060 to get us 00:34:07.060 --> 00:34:07.940 to understand. 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:09.760 And understand 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:10.960 that as the gospel 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:11.940 grips us, 00:34:12.579 --> 00:34:13.400 as we understand 00:34:13.400 --> 00:34:15.019 that the gospel 00:34:15.019 --> 00:34:15.760 is true, 00:34:15.900 --> 00:34:16.760 that it's real, 00:34:16.940 --> 00:34:17.539 that God 00:34:17.539 --> 00:34:18.380 looking at you 00:34:18.380 --> 00:34:18.800 and me 00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:19.380 and seeing 00:34:19.380 --> 00:34:20.820 all of our imperfections 00:34:20.820 --> 00:34:21.500 and all of the things 00:34:21.500 --> 00:34:22.139 that are strong 00:34:22.139 --> 00:34:22.780 and good about us, 00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:23.720 all of our potential, 00:34:24.280 --> 00:34:25.039 all of the things 00:34:25.039 --> 00:34:25.460 about us, 00:34:25.519 --> 00:34:26.380 but even all 00:34:26.380 --> 00:34:27.340 of the bad things, 00:34:27.460 --> 00:34:28.240 even all the things 00:34:28.239 --> 00:34:29.039 that are so bad 00:34:29.039 --> 00:34:30.079 that we've repressed them, 00:34:30.139 --> 00:34:30.959 that seeing this, 00:34:31.299 --> 00:34:33.579 still He loves you 00:34:33.579 --> 00:34:36.199 and still He loves me 00:34:36.199 --> 00:34:38.139 and still He dies 00:34:38.139 --> 00:34:39.339 upon the cross 00:34:39.339 --> 00:34:41.979 to be our Redeemer. 00:34:43.399 --> 00:34:44.279 And if He does it for me, 00:34:44.339 --> 00:34:45.799 He'll do it for any person 00:34:45.799 --> 00:34:46.579 on the planet. 00:34:47.959 --> 00:34:48.539 That when we, 00:34:49.159 --> 00:34:49.619 in a sense, 00:34:49.699 --> 00:34:49.919 say, 00:34:50.379 --> 00:34:50.779 Father, 00:34:50.939 --> 00:34:52.859 only You can rescue me, 00:34:53.399 --> 00:34:55.359 will You rescue me? 00:34:55.360 --> 00:34:56.800 Jesus, 00:34:57.200 --> 00:34:58.480 only You 00:34:58.480 --> 00:34:59.519 are that power 00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:01.039 that in justice 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:01.840 God does 00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:02.539 and in grace 00:35:02.539 --> 00:35:03.000 He does 00:35:03.000 --> 00:35:03.780 to make me right 00:35:03.780 --> 00:35:04.920 with Himself. 00:35:05.059 --> 00:35:05.920 Will You take me? 00:35:06.039 --> 00:35:07.500 Can I enter into You? 00:35:07.660 --> 00:35:08.420 Can You be mine? 00:35:08.519 --> 00:35:09.260 Can I be Yours? 00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:11.320 He turns no one away. 00:35:12.860 --> 00:35:13.720 No one away. 00:35:14.599 --> 00:35:15.140 It doesn't matter 00:35:15.140 --> 00:35:15.599 if you're doing 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:16.780 hard time 00:35:16.780 --> 00:35:17.840 in the hardest prison 00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:18.380 in the world 00:35:18.380 --> 00:35:20.200 or the most successful person. 00:35:20.579 --> 00:35:21.820 He turns no one away. 00:35:22.220 --> 00:35:22.800 It doesn't matter 00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:24.200 if you're same-sex attracted 00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:25.279 or you've never been 00:35:25.279 --> 00:35:26.179 same-sex attracted, 00:35:26.279 --> 00:35:26.779 you've only been 00:35:26.779 --> 00:35:27.980 opposite-sex attracted. 00:35:28.299 --> 00:35:28.839 It doesn't matter 00:35:28.839 --> 00:35:30.199 if you're university educated 00:35:30.199 --> 00:35:32.199 or if you're barely educated at all, 00:35:32.279 --> 00:35:33.339 He turns no one away. 00:35:33.980 --> 00:35:35.139 He doesn't weigh our merits 00:35:35.139 --> 00:35:36.519 but He pardons our offenses. 00:35:41.319 --> 00:35:43.419 And Paul's original here is, 00:35:43.980 --> 00:35:44.199 you see, 00:35:44.259 --> 00:35:45.439 this is a powerful understanding. 00:35:45.539 --> 00:35:45.699 Remember, 00:35:46.139 --> 00:35:47.480 it's very possible 00:35:47.480 --> 00:35:49.000 that if there were 200 people 00:35:49.000 --> 00:35:50.279 who were Christians in Rome, 00:35:50.599 --> 00:35:51.779 140 of them 00:35:51.779 --> 00:35:52.980 were of the doulos class 00:35:52.980 --> 00:35:54.280 and the other 60, 00:35:54.380 --> 00:35:55.059 they understand 00:35:55.059 --> 00:35:55.920 the doulos class. 00:35:56.059 --> 00:35:57.320 They understand how that works. 00:35:57.699 --> 00:35:58.740 And every single one of them, 00:35:58.980 --> 00:36:00.659 this is this bombshell to them. 00:36:02.740 --> 00:36:03.059 Okay, 00:36:03.139 --> 00:36:04.059 on a human level, 00:36:04.679 --> 00:36:05.920 I belong to, 00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:06.240 you know, 00:36:06.300 --> 00:36:07.059 old Fred there 00:36:07.059 --> 00:36:07.400 or whatever. 00:36:07.539 --> 00:36:07.639 But, 00:36:07.740 --> 00:36:07.900 you know, 00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:08.559 on a human level, 00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:09.219 we understand 00:36:09.219 --> 00:36:11.639 that if Fred sells me 00:36:11.639 --> 00:36:13.480 to Jill, 00:36:14.240 --> 00:36:15.460 that I now have 00:36:15.460 --> 00:36:16.599 a new owner. 00:36:16.940 --> 00:36:18.460 And the cross of Jesus 00:36:18.460 --> 00:36:20.320 is Jesus doing something 00:36:20.320 --> 00:36:21.460 and when I put my faith 00:36:21.460 --> 00:36:22.340 and trust in Him, 00:36:22.860 --> 00:36:25.340 it breaks my ownership 00:36:25.340 --> 00:36:26.860 to I will be like God 00:36:26.860 --> 00:36:27.800 and all the idols 00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:28.660 that I give myself. 00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:29.900 It actually breaks it 00:36:29.900 --> 00:36:30.519 and it's as if 00:36:30.519 --> 00:36:33.340 Jesus takes you and me 00:36:33.340 --> 00:36:34.160 by the shoulders 00:36:34.160 --> 00:36:35.559 and lifts me 00:36:35.559 --> 00:36:37.519 to a different status 00:36:37.519 --> 00:36:39.820 of I now belong to God again. 00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:42.559 I belong to God. 00:36:43.820 --> 00:36:44.900 And let me tell you, 00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:45.320 friends, 00:36:45.460 --> 00:36:47.300 when Jesus died upon the cross, 00:36:47.760 --> 00:36:48.940 He defeated sin, 00:36:48.940 --> 00:36:49.960 He defeated death, 00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:51.300 He defeated all hostile 00:36:51.300 --> 00:36:52.519 spiritual powers, 00:36:52.920 --> 00:36:54.200 He completely and utterly 00:36:54.200 --> 00:36:54.880 defeated them, 00:36:55.159 --> 00:36:56.920 and if He's put His hands 00:36:56.920 --> 00:36:57.880 on your shoulders 00:36:57.880 --> 00:36:59.659 and moved you to the domain 00:36:59.659 --> 00:37:01.000 where you now live for God, 00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:01.980 nothing, 00:37:02.420 --> 00:37:03.019 nothing 00:37:03.019 --> 00:37:04.460 will take you 00:37:04.460 --> 00:37:06.059 from His hands. 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:07.920 Nothing. 00:37:08.340 --> 00:37:10.079 He will never let you go. 00:37:12.920 --> 00:37:14.320 That's the gospel. 00:37:14.320 --> 00:37:18.280 And now let's, 00:37:18.400 --> 00:37:18.519 you know, 00:37:18.559 --> 00:37:19.660 when you read this text, 00:37:19.800 --> 00:37:21.140 look at verse 17. 00:37:22.360 --> 00:37:23.400 But thanks be to God 00:37:23.400 --> 00:37:25.720 that you who were once slaves 00:37:25.720 --> 00:37:27.780 of I will be like God 00:37:27.780 --> 00:37:28.780 have become obedient 00:37:28.780 --> 00:37:29.539 from the heart 00:37:29.539 --> 00:37:30.760 to the standard of teaching 00:37:30.760 --> 00:37:31.559 to which you were committed. 00:37:31.640 --> 00:37:31.940 In other words, 00:37:31.980 --> 00:37:32.980 you've heard the gospel 00:37:32.980 --> 00:37:34.420 and you've believed 00:37:34.420 --> 00:37:35.400 that slavery 00:37:35.400 --> 00:37:36.980 is not the final word 00:37:36.980 --> 00:37:37.420 about you 00:37:37.420 --> 00:37:38.500 but that you can belong 00:37:38.500 --> 00:37:39.300 to God. 00:37:40.640 --> 00:37:41.760 Not because you're 00:37:41.760 --> 00:37:42.340 so beautiful 00:37:42.340 --> 00:37:42.960 or so wonderful 00:37:42.960 --> 00:37:43.760 or so successful 00:37:43.760 --> 00:37:45.559 but because of the power 00:37:45.559 --> 00:37:46.960 of God for salvation. 00:37:50.220 --> 00:37:51.159 Verse 18, 00:37:51.300 --> 00:37:52.699 and have been set free 00:37:52.699 --> 00:37:53.539 from sin, 00:37:53.880 --> 00:37:55.460 have become slaves 00:37:55.460 --> 00:37:56.720 of righteousness, 00:37:57.000 --> 00:37:58.220 of right standing with God. 00:37:58.720 --> 00:37:59.340 I am speaking 00:37:59.340 --> 00:38:00.300 in human terms 00:38:00.300 --> 00:38:01.000 because of your 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:02.179 natural limitations 00:38:02.179 --> 00:38:03.679 for just as you once 00:38:03.679 --> 00:38:05.300 presented your members 00:38:05.300 --> 00:38:07.019 as slaves to impurity 00:38:07.019 --> 00:38:07.820 and to lawlessness 00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:09.220 leading to more lawlessness 00:38:09.220 --> 00:38:10.840 because slavery grows. 00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:12.619 So now present 00:38:12.619 --> 00:38:13.299 your members 00:38:13.299 --> 00:38:14.480 as slaves to righteousness 00:38:14.480 --> 00:38:15.880 leading to sanctification. 00:38:16.380 --> 00:38:17.019 I'll talk about that 00:38:17.019 --> 00:38:17.579 more in a moment 00:38:17.579 --> 00:38:18.119 in closing. 00:38:18.719 --> 00:38:19.779 For when you were slaves 00:38:19.779 --> 00:38:20.339 of sin, 00:38:20.539 --> 00:38:21.440 you were free 00:38:21.440 --> 00:38:22.659 in regard to righteousness. 00:38:22.779 --> 00:38:23.199 In other words, 00:38:23.299 --> 00:38:23.920 you didn't belong 00:38:23.920 --> 00:38:24.539 to righteousness. 00:38:24.980 --> 00:38:25.739 That's what it means. 00:38:26.259 --> 00:38:27.000 But what fruit 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:27.559 were you getting 00:38:27.559 --> 00:38:28.239 at that time 00:38:28.239 --> 00:38:28.960 from the things 00:38:28.960 --> 00:38:30.539 of which you are now ashamed? 00:38:31.219 --> 00:38:31.799 For the end 00:38:31.799 --> 00:38:32.460 of those things 00:38:32.460 --> 00:38:33.059 is death. 00:38:33.719 --> 00:38:34.500 But now that you 00:38:34.500 --> 00:38:35.440 have been set free 00:38:35.440 --> 00:38:36.279 from sin 00:38:36.279 --> 00:38:37.440 that you no longer 00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:38.880 are owned by sin 00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:39.819 and have become 00:38:39.819 --> 00:38:41.179 slaves of God, 00:38:41.179 --> 00:38:42.899 the fruit you get 00:38:42.899 --> 00:38:44.719 leads to sanctification 00:38:44.719 --> 00:38:45.919 and its end 00:38:45.919 --> 00:38:47.000 eternal life. 00:38:47.199 --> 00:38:48.039 For the wages 00:38:48.039 --> 00:38:49.019 of sin 00:38:49.019 --> 00:38:49.519 is death. 00:38:49.739 --> 00:38:50.299 The payoff 00:38:50.299 --> 00:38:51.460 of sin 00:38:51.460 --> 00:38:52.179 is death. 00:38:52.379 --> 00:38:53.480 But the free gift 00:38:53.480 --> 00:38:54.099 of God 00:38:54.099 --> 00:38:55.359 is eternal life 00:38:55.359 --> 00:38:56.699 in Christ 00:38:56.699 --> 00:38:57.539 Jesus 00:38:57.539 --> 00:38:59.019 our Lord. 00:39:02.319 --> 00:39:02.960 Andrew, 00:39:03.039 --> 00:39:03.539 if you could put up 00:39:03.539 --> 00:39:05.119 the almost final point. 00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:06.659 God's gift 00:39:06.659 --> 00:39:07.259 of grace 00:39:07.259 --> 00:39:08.539 makes us 00:39:08.539 --> 00:39:09.319 whole, 00:39:09.920 --> 00:39:10.179 free, 00:39:10.639 --> 00:39:11.179 and fruitful. 00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:14.119 I put the us 00:39:14.119 --> 00:39:15.059 in in purpose. 00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:17.000 Because holiness 00:39:17.000 --> 00:39:17.619 doesn't mean 00:39:17.619 --> 00:39:18.119 as I said 00:39:18.119 --> 00:39:18.799 that you look around 00:39:18.799 --> 00:39:19.859 always as if 00:39:19.859 --> 00:39:20.900 a fart's just 00:39:20.900 --> 00:39:21.619 gone off in the room 00:39:21.619 --> 00:39:22.559 and it's really smelly 00:39:22.559 --> 00:39:23.839 and at the same time 00:39:23.839 --> 00:39:24.659 you're eating lemons 00:39:24.659 --> 00:39:25.880 with no sugar 00:39:25.880 --> 00:39:27.079 and you just have 00:39:27.079 --> 00:39:28.199 this really ugly 00:39:28.199 --> 00:39:29.900 expression on your face. 00:39:30.579 --> 00:39:31.019 Unfortunately, 00:39:31.159 --> 00:39:31.619 there's a whole 00:39:31.619 --> 00:39:32.440 pile of Christians 00:39:32.440 --> 00:39:33.179 that's what they think 00:39:33.179 --> 00:39:33.920 holiness means 00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:34.860 and they embody it. 00:39:35.340 --> 00:39:35.780 Lord, 00:39:35.920 --> 00:39:37.420 have mercy upon us. 00:39:38.420 --> 00:39:39.420 But holiness 00:39:39.420 --> 00:39:40.519 means you're set aside 00:39:40.519 --> 00:39:41.200 for God. 00:39:41.900 --> 00:39:42.480 And it means 00:39:42.480 --> 00:39:43.119 that as God 00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:43.960 sets you aside 00:39:43.960 --> 00:39:44.639 for himself, 00:39:44.880 --> 00:39:45.619 he doesn't do it 00:39:45.619 --> 00:39:46.280 just alone. 00:39:46.659 --> 00:39:47.900 We enter the Jesus way 00:39:47.900 --> 00:39:48.760 one by one 00:39:48.760 --> 00:39:49.480 but we walk 00:39:49.480 --> 00:39:50.420 the Jesus way 00:39:50.420 --> 00:39:51.720 with Jesus and others. 00:39:54.159 --> 00:39:55.300 And holiness 00:39:55.300 --> 00:39:56.460 is a restoration 00:39:56.460 --> 00:39:57.519 to community. 00:39:57.980 --> 00:39:58.920 Holiness involves 00:39:58.920 --> 00:39:59.780 a restoration 00:39:59.780 --> 00:40:00.559 of ourselves 00:40:00.559 --> 00:40:01.780 with the created order. 00:40:02.260 --> 00:40:03.400 Holiness means 00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:04.320 that we start 00:40:04.320 --> 00:40:05.300 to become fruitful. 00:40:05.720 --> 00:40:06.480 Holiness means 00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:07.800 we start to become whole. 00:40:08.200 --> 00:40:09.059 Holiness means 00:40:09.059 --> 00:40:10.599 we start to live 00:40:10.599 --> 00:40:11.680 eternal life. 00:40:12.400 --> 00:40:13.720 And it's all gift. 00:40:14.680 --> 00:40:15.340 All gift. 00:40:16.860 --> 00:40:17.960 My time is almost up. 00:40:18.519 --> 00:40:19.639 The marriage analogy 00:40:19.639 --> 00:40:20.740 which comes after that, 00:40:20.900 --> 00:40:21.440 it's the same. 00:40:21.579 --> 00:40:21.940 Paul just, 00:40:22.039 --> 00:40:22.780 you notice that the word 00:40:22.780 --> 00:40:23.059 are, 00:40:23.220 --> 00:40:23.639 or, 00:40:23.900 --> 00:40:24.800 it's the same type of thing. 00:40:24.860 --> 00:40:25.340 He just uses 00:40:25.340 --> 00:40:26.240 a different analogy 00:40:26.240 --> 00:40:27.180 and the different analogy 00:40:27.180 --> 00:40:28.599 is that you're either married 00:40:28.599 --> 00:40:31.119 to self-justification 00:40:31.119 --> 00:40:32.179 and rule keeping 00:40:32.179 --> 00:40:33.759 or you're married 00:40:33.759 --> 00:40:34.519 to grace. 00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:35.339 You can't, 00:40:35.339 --> 00:40:36.440 you can't be unmarried 00:40:36.440 --> 00:40:37.299 and you can't be married 00:40:37.299 --> 00:40:37.639 to both, 00:40:37.699 --> 00:40:38.619 you're only married to one. 00:40:38.940 --> 00:40:39.960 It's just a different analogy. 00:40:40.059 --> 00:40:40.639 I don't have time 00:40:40.639 --> 00:40:41.339 to go into it 00:40:41.339 --> 00:40:42.480 but that's the heart of it. 00:40:42.719 --> 00:40:43.880 So here's a couple of things 00:40:43.880 --> 00:40:45.619 that we can sort of 00:40:45.619 --> 00:40:46.880 take away. 00:40:47.139 --> 00:40:48.059 A lot of times, 00:40:48.139 --> 00:40:48.920 I'm not trying to say 00:40:48.920 --> 00:40:50.199 that we shouldn't show willpower 00:40:50.199 --> 00:40:51.400 but a lot of times 00:40:51.400 --> 00:40:52.319 as we all know, 00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:54.480 willpower just doesn't work. 00:40:54.480 --> 00:40:58.400 Willpower doesn't work. 00:40:59.719 --> 00:41:00.000 I mean, 00:41:00.079 --> 00:41:01.519 it has a partial effectiveness 00:41:01.519 --> 00:41:01.960 but it, 00:41:03.320 --> 00:41:04.039 a lot of times 00:41:04.039 --> 00:41:05.280 what we need to ask ourselves 00:41:05.280 --> 00:41:05.920 when we're doing 00:41:05.920 --> 00:41:07.019 compulsive things 00:41:07.019 --> 00:41:07.760 and things that we know 00:41:07.760 --> 00:41:08.420 that are wrong, 00:41:09.280 --> 00:41:10.059 what we need to do 00:41:10.059 --> 00:41:11.119 is we need to say, 00:41:11.260 --> 00:41:11.460 Father, 00:41:11.559 --> 00:41:12.240 will you grip me 00:41:12.240 --> 00:41:13.059 with the gospel? 00:41:14.079 --> 00:41:14.800 But will you grip me 00:41:14.800 --> 00:41:15.179 with the gospel? 00:41:15.260 --> 00:41:15.599 Well, Father, 00:41:15.699 --> 00:41:16.860 help me to understand 00:41:16.860 --> 00:41:17.760 what I'm serving. 00:41:20.679 --> 00:41:22.079 What is it that I, 00:41:22.340 --> 00:41:22.559 Father, 00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:24.240 please reveal to me 00:41:24.239 --> 00:41:25.599 what it is 00:41:25.599 --> 00:41:27.500 that is my ultimate good? 00:41:27.559 --> 00:41:28.619 If we're always angry 00:41:28.619 --> 00:41:29.459 with our wife, 00:41:30.159 --> 00:41:31.339 if I was to go around 00:41:31.339 --> 00:41:31.779 always saying 00:41:31.779 --> 00:41:32.939 that my wife was stupid, 00:41:33.059 --> 00:41:33.899 if I was to treat her 00:41:33.899 --> 00:41:35.419 in that particular type of way, 00:41:35.839 --> 00:41:35.979 well, 00:41:36.059 --> 00:41:37.119 what's driving me? 00:41:37.239 --> 00:41:39.219 What is it that I understand 00:41:39.219 --> 00:41:40.659 or think is really important? 00:41:42.059 --> 00:41:43.159 What's at the heart 00:41:43.159 --> 00:41:44.279 of who I am? 00:41:44.639 --> 00:41:45.859 And then once we ask 00:41:45.859 --> 00:41:47.559 the Father to reveal that to us, 00:41:47.659 --> 00:41:48.899 ask Him to break it, 00:41:50.099 --> 00:41:51.599 to grip us with the gospel. 00:41:53.059 --> 00:41:53.779 Jesus who, 00:41:53.780 --> 00:41:55.220 becomes a servant, 00:41:56.120 --> 00:41:57.400 becomes a doulos 00:41:57.400 --> 00:41:58.740 to free us 00:41:58.740 --> 00:42:00.560 so we can be free in God. 00:42:01.680 --> 00:42:04.100 And the second thing is, 00:42:04.200 --> 00:42:05.360 and this is in verse 19, 00:42:05.500 --> 00:42:06.440 this is what we're going to end with, 00:42:06.480 --> 00:42:07.880 it's the tool belt analogy. 00:42:08.400 --> 00:42:09.800 Look at verse 19 again. 00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:12.560 I am speaking in human terms 00:42:12.560 --> 00:42:14.300 because of your natural limitations, 00:42:14.519 --> 00:42:15.720 for just as you once presented 00:42:15.720 --> 00:42:16.340 your members, 00:42:16.440 --> 00:42:17.820 which can also mean tools 00:42:17.820 --> 00:42:18.920 or instruments 00:42:18.920 --> 00:42:19.860 or weapons, 00:42:20.360 --> 00:42:21.600 as slaves to impurity 00:42:21.599 --> 00:42:22.440 and to lawlessness 00:42:22.440 --> 00:42:23.679 leading to more lawlessness, 00:42:23.880 --> 00:42:25.579 so now present your tools, 00:42:25.759 --> 00:42:26.119 weapons, 00:42:26.719 --> 00:42:27.099 instruments, 00:42:27.259 --> 00:42:28.619 as slaves to righteousness 00:42:28.619 --> 00:42:30.199 leading to holiness, 00:42:30.440 --> 00:42:31.119 to being holy. 00:42:31.599 --> 00:42:33.219 And it's the exact same analogy 00:42:33.219 --> 00:42:34.559 which we looked at last week. 00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:35.420 And it's this. 00:42:35.819 --> 00:42:36.860 The Bible is saying that 00:42:36.860 --> 00:42:38.099 every day when you wake up, 00:42:38.159 --> 00:42:38.579 it doesn't matter 00:42:38.579 --> 00:42:39.339 if you're retired, 00:42:39.880 --> 00:42:40.480 it doesn't matter 00:42:40.480 --> 00:42:42.000 if you're independently wealthy, 00:42:42.119 --> 00:42:42.619 it doesn't matter 00:42:42.619 --> 00:42:43.500 if you're just going to, 00:42:43.659 --> 00:42:44.259 as a job, 00:42:44.319 --> 00:42:44.980 as a janitor, 00:42:44.980 --> 00:42:46.199 it doesn't matter 00:42:46.199 --> 00:42:48.599 if you're going to manage hedge funds 00:42:48.599 --> 00:42:50.039 and make millions of dollars 00:42:50.039 --> 00:42:50.360 in a day, 00:42:50.400 --> 00:42:50.780 it doesn't matter 00:42:50.780 --> 00:42:51.800 if you're a social worker, 00:42:52.079 --> 00:42:52.559 it doesn't matter 00:42:52.559 --> 00:42:53.760 if you're a stay-at-home dad, 00:42:54.059 --> 00:42:54.400 okay? 00:42:54.760 --> 00:42:55.460 But in a sense, 00:42:55.539 --> 00:42:56.240 every human being, 00:42:56.340 --> 00:42:57.000 we wake up 00:42:57.000 --> 00:42:59.380 and we show up 00:42:59.380 --> 00:43:00.840 at a job site 00:43:00.840 --> 00:43:03.240 where we're owned. 00:43:05.159 --> 00:43:06.980 And when we come to the job site 00:43:06.980 --> 00:43:07.760 every day, 00:43:08.500 --> 00:43:09.400 we carry in, 00:43:09.679 --> 00:43:11.320 we have our tool belt around us 00:43:11.320 --> 00:43:12.119 and in our tool belt 00:43:12.119 --> 00:43:13.539 we have our money, 00:43:13.719 --> 00:43:14.279 our time, 00:43:14.400 --> 00:43:15.219 our sexuality, 00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:15.940 our mind, 00:43:16.119 --> 00:43:16.799 our body, 00:43:16.900 --> 00:43:17.420 our strength, 00:43:17.519 --> 00:43:18.659 our family relationships, 00:43:18.900 --> 00:43:20.159 our influence. 00:43:20.319 --> 00:43:22.159 We have our tool thing, 00:43:22.319 --> 00:43:23.500 a big box of tools 00:43:23.500 --> 00:43:24.159 in our right hand 00:43:24.159 --> 00:43:24.819 and our left hand, 00:43:24.880 --> 00:43:25.079 of course, 00:43:25.159 --> 00:43:26.259 we have as construction workers 00:43:26.259 --> 00:43:28.539 do those unbelievably huge lunch boxes 00:43:28.539 --> 00:43:29.539 that they carry around. 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:30.920 And every morning 00:43:30.920 --> 00:43:31.799 when we wake up, 00:43:32.139 --> 00:43:32.900 we show up 00:43:32.900 --> 00:43:34.299 at a job site 00:43:34.299 --> 00:43:36.059 where we're owned. 00:43:38.759 --> 00:43:39.960 So we do every day. 00:43:40.980 --> 00:43:42.099 It's a way to understand 00:43:42.099 --> 00:43:43.119 how you live your day. 00:43:44.019 --> 00:43:45.059 And here's the problem. 00:43:46.159 --> 00:43:47.519 Many of us are showing up 00:43:47.519 --> 00:43:49.119 at the wrong job site. 00:43:50.259 --> 00:43:51.420 Sorry to use this 00:43:51.420 --> 00:43:52.400 as the cross. 00:43:53.599 --> 00:43:54.460 And over here 00:43:54.460 --> 00:43:57.099 is the different idols 00:43:57.099 --> 00:43:58.159 that we're in slavery 00:43:58.159 --> 00:43:59.139 and bondage to. 00:44:00.139 --> 00:44:01.420 And over here 00:44:01.420 --> 00:44:03.099 is the realm of grace 00:44:03.099 --> 00:44:05.119 where the one who owns us 00:44:05.119 --> 00:44:06.679 is the one who died for us, 00:44:07.039 --> 00:44:08.480 who loves us so much 00:44:08.480 --> 00:44:10.599 that he died on the cross, 00:44:10.599 --> 00:44:12.420 he suffered humiliation 00:44:12.420 --> 00:44:13.940 so we would be his. 00:44:15.759 --> 00:44:17.019 And when we put our faith 00:44:17.019 --> 00:44:18.079 and trust in Jesus, 00:44:18.440 --> 00:44:19.339 Jesus, as I said, 00:44:19.460 --> 00:44:20.299 picks us up 00:44:20.299 --> 00:44:22.519 and puts us here. 00:44:23.299 --> 00:44:24.559 We now belong to him. 00:44:25.440 --> 00:44:26.960 But brothers and sisters, 00:44:27.239 --> 00:44:27.679 friends, 00:44:28.219 --> 00:44:29.259 so many of us, 00:44:29.319 --> 00:44:30.039 so often me, 00:44:30.099 --> 00:44:31.099 when I wake up in the morning, 00:44:31.179 --> 00:44:32.599 I show up at this job site. 00:44:32.599 --> 00:44:36.500 Paul is saying, 00:44:36.940 --> 00:44:38.159 stop showing up 00:44:38.159 --> 00:44:39.539 at the wrong job site. 00:44:41.360 --> 00:44:42.380 Begin your day 00:44:42.380 --> 00:44:43.159 by realizing 00:44:43.159 --> 00:44:44.519 who owns you, 00:44:44.679 --> 00:44:45.960 who has redeemed you, 00:44:46.659 --> 00:44:47.739 who you serve, 00:44:48.339 --> 00:44:49.400 and bring the best 00:44:49.400 --> 00:44:50.880 of who you are to him. 00:44:51.440 --> 00:44:52.719 That you bring the best 00:44:52.719 --> 00:44:53.839 of who you are to him, 00:44:53.920 --> 00:44:55.559 not so he'll love you more, 00:44:56.299 --> 00:44:58.019 because he can't love you more, 00:44:58.019 --> 00:45:01.019 but out of gratitude 00:45:01.019 --> 00:45:03.300 and knowing that 00:45:03.300 --> 00:45:05.139 as you know his will 00:45:05.139 --> 00:45:06.380 and his heart 00:45:06.380 --> 00:45:08.199 and as you dwell more and more 00:45:08.199 --> 00:45:09.179 in what he did for you 00:45:09.179 --> 00:45:09.980 on the cross, 00:45:11.039 --> 00:45:12.920 that as you think about that, 00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:14.239 it will nudge you, 00:45:14.340 --> 00:45:15.420 it will draw you, 00:45:15.519 --> 00:45:16.480 it will shape you, 00:45:16.559 --> 00:45:17.659 it will ground you 00:45:17.659 --> 00:45:19.019 to live in a way 00:45:19.019 --> 00:45:21.300 that brings him glory, 00:45:21.440 --> 00:45:22.219 not yourself, 00:45:22.219 --> 00:45:24.679 and is actually 00:45:24.679 --> 00:45:25.459 leading you 00:45:25.459 --> 00:45:26.719 to be more human 00:45:26.719 --> 00:45:28.139 and more free. 00:45:29.679 --> 00:45:30.599 So I'd like you all 00:45:30.599 --> 00:45:31.159 to stand 00:45:31.159 --> 00:45:34.959 and I'm going to invite you 00:45:34.959 --> 00:45:36.579 to say this prayer with me. 00:45:37.619 --> 00:45:38.480 It's the same one 00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:39.619 we said last week. 00:45:41.559 --> 00:45:42.939 And if you have never 00:45:42.939 --> 00:45:44.319 given your life to Jesus, 00:45:45.219 --> 00:45:46.839 if you've never asked him 00:45:46.839 --> 00:45:47.959 to take you from this 00:45:47.959 --> 00:45:49.599 to this, 00:45:50.599 --> 00:45:51.639 use this prayer 00:45:51.639 --> 00:45:53.779 as a conversion prayer. 00:45:56.219 --> 00:45:57.299 Offer yourself 00:45:57.299 --> 00:45:59.960 and he will take you 00:45:59.960 --> 00:46:01.279 as his own. 00:46:02.299 --> 00:46:03.319 And for all of us, 00:46:03.759 --> 00:46:05.059 if you're at all like me, 00:46:05.099 --> 00:46:05.940 brothers and sisters, 00:46:06.099 --> 00:46:07.539 you need help to remember 00:46:07.539 --> 00:46:08.699 to not show up 00:46:08.699 --> 00:46:10.039 at the wrong job site. 00:46:11.639 --> 00:46:12.759 So I ask you, 00:46:12.859 --> 00:46:13.460 invite you, 00:46:13.920 --> 00:46:15.339 if the Holy Spirit leads you, 00:46:15.400 --> 00:46:16.480 to pray along with me. 00:46:17.099 --> 00:46:17.579 Lord, 00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:19.639 thank you for the gift 00:46:19.639 --> 00:46:20.779 of this new day. 00:46:20.780 --> 00:46:22.560 I come to you 00:46:22.560 --> 00:46:24.500 ready to work for you 00:46:24.500 --> 00:46:25.440 under your direction. 00:46:26.440 --> 00:46:27.840 I bring the best 00:46:27.840 --> 00:46:28.860 of who I am 00:46:28.860 --> 00:46:30.840 and all of who I am. 00:46:31.320 --> 00:46:32.760 I bring my mind, 00:46:33.019 --> 00:46:33.380 body, 00:46:33.760 --> 00:46:34.220 time, 00:46:34.640 --> 00:46:34.900 money, 00:46:35.280 --> 00:46:35.920 creativity, 00:46:36.580 --> 00:46:37.300 sexuality, 00:46:37.880 --> 00:46:38.620 influence, 00:46:38.940 --> 00:46:39.340 job, 00:46:39.519 --> 00:46:40.040 and life. 00:46:40.039 --> 00:46:41.559 I am here 00:46:41.559 --> 00:46:42.619 to work for you. 00:46:43.340 --> 00:46:44.259 Please guide, 00:46:44.480 --> 00:46:44.900 direct, 00:46:45.059 --> 00:46:46.079 and strengthen me 00:46:46.079 --> 00:46:47.360 to do what you 00:46:47.360 --> 00:46:48.400 would have me do. 00:46:49.139 --> 00:46:50.300 Please free me 00:46:50.300 --> 00:46:51.179 so I work 00:46:51.179 --> 00:46:52.179 for your glory 00:46:52.179 --> 00:46:53.800 and not my own. 00:46:54.219 --> 00:46:55.539 In Jesus' name, 00:46:55.679 --> 00:46:55.960 amen. 00:46:56.880 --> 00:46:57.279 Father, 00:46:58.059 --> 00:46:59.320 pour out your Holy Spirit 00:46:59.320 --> 00:46:59.960 upon us, 00:47:00.199 --> 00:47:01.340 draw us to yourself, 00:47:02.019 --> 00:47:03.039 make us disciples 00:47:03.039 --> 00:47:03.779 of Jesus, 00:47:03.980 --> 00:47:05.139 gripped by the gospel, 00:47:05.539 --> 00:47:06.579 who live for your glory. 00:47:07.000 --> 00:47:07.820 And this we ask 00:47:07.820 --> 00:47:08.699 in Jesus' name, 00:47:09.159 --> 00:47:09.399 amen. 00:47:10.480 --> 00:47:10.799 Amen. 00:47:10.799 --> 00:47:10.879 Amen. 00:47:10.879 --> 00:47:10.960 Amen. 00:47:10.960 --> 00:47:11.079 Amen. 00:47:11.079 --> 00:47:11.139 Amen.