WEBVTT 00:00:00.860 --> 00:00:02.660 So, first of all, a warning. 00:00:02.800 --> 00:00:05.520 We're going to look at this a bit in reverse order. 00:00:05.639 --> 00:00:07.660 We're going to start in verse 8. 00:00:08.120 --> 00:00:15.099 But Paul is, as I said, writing to new Christian converts, and he's warning them about an ever-present 00:00:15.099 --> 00:00:19.699 danger that all Christians are going to face over the course of their lives. 00:00:19.780 --> 00:00:23.940 He says in verse 8, see to it that no one takes you captive. 00:00:24.740 --> 00:00:30.440 And that's a word that would refer to somebody who was captured in war and then forced into 00:00:30.440 --> 00:00:31.020 slavery. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:36.320 So, you might translate this as see to it that no one enslaves you. 00:00:36.679 --> 00:00:41.799 By philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental 00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:44.439 spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:49.620 I want to make it clear that Paul is not saying that philosophy itself is bad. 00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:52.540 He's not condemning the discipline of philosophy. 00:00:52.539 --> 00:00:57.579 And many of you are well-read in philosophy, and you know that I'm a great lover of philosophy. 00:00:57.780 --> 00:00:59.820 And so, that's not what Paul's talking about here. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:03.560 Paul was actually also well-versed in the philosophies of his day. 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:09.299 This word has a much broader meaning than what we would typically think of as philosophy. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:10.439 It can mean philosophies. 00:01:10.539 --> 00:01:11.560 It can mean religions. 00:01:11.819 --> 00:01:13.319 It can mean various worldviews. 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:15.739 So, it's a very general umbrella term. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:21.819 And specifically, Paul is referring to philosophies, worldviews, or religions that are, as he says, 00:01:21.819 --> 00:01:26.379 according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world. 00:01:26.699 --> 00:01:30.780 In other words, he's saying, beware man-made philosophies. 00:01:30.939 --> 00:01:41.379 Beware ideas, worldviews, religions that have been generated entirely by human beings that rely on ideas and concepts belonging to the fallen world. 00:01:41.379 --> 00:01:48.299 He says, anything that has originated in the fallen world is going to be subject to the limitations of a fallen world. 00:01:48.420 --> 00:01:51.840 Beware being taken captive by such ideas. 00:01:52.699 --> 00:02:00.379 Now, in Colossae, this referred to certain teachers who were promising the secrets of higher, truer spirituality. 00:02:00.379 --> 00:02:06.280 They were promising to unlock the mysteries of true spirituality for their followers. 00:02:06.379 --> 00:02:07.759 And they were gaining a great following. 00:02:08.340 --> 00:02:12.759 But there's a more general warning here for all Christians that I think that we need to hear. 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:16.199 In fact, I think for all people that we need to hear. 00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:33.060 In every generation, new ideas and new philosophies are going to come along, and they're going to capture people's hearts. 00:02:33.579 --> 00:02:39.099 Because they're going to make great promises about how to understand and solve life's biggest problems. 00:02:39.099 --> 00:02:44.479 A great teacher, a great thinker, a great thought leader, a great philosopher is going to start a movement. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:50.459 And it's going to say, up until now, we never understood these issues, but now we truly understand them, and now we can truly solve them. 00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:53.000 And that's something that you see happening in every generation. 00:02:53.419 --> 00:02:57.280 And the danger always is that Christians will be taken in by this. 00:02:57.740 --> 00:03:07.560 Is that Christians will be willing to exchange the truth of the gospel for these newer, seemingly better ideas about ourselves, God, and the world. 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:17.400 The danger is that Christians will look at their faith and say, this is old, this is tired, this is antiquated, it no longer applies, it's no longer relevant to society as it is now. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:20.900 We need these newer ideas, they're going to be better for us. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:23.159 So that's the danger. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:26.620 And Paul says, if you do that, you're going to lose your freedom. 00:03:27.020 --> 00:03:29.800 You're going to lose the freedom that you have in Christ. 00:03:29.900 --> 00:03:32.640 You're going to lose everything if you make that mistake. 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:42.500 So we need to ask, as people who are sort of trying to understand this from thousands of years from when it was written, we need to ask, what's the big deal? 00:03:42.619 --> 00:03:49.659 What's the difference between the gospel and other religions, philosophies, and worldviews? 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:53.219 Al Walters wrote a book called Creation Regained. 00:03:53.279 --> 00:03:56.119 And if you know me, you know I refer back to this book again and again. 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.020 It's a book that I would just recommend you read in its entirety. 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:11.980 But he says in that book that apart from Christianity, every other religion and philosophy out there singles out some aspect of God's creation as the source of evil. 00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:17.480 And idolizes some other part of creation as the solution to evil. 00:04:17.480 --> 00:04:27.259 So he says apart from Christianity, every other religion and philosophy points to something in the created world as the source of evil and points to something else in the created world as the solution to evil. 00:04:27.700 --> 00:04:28.780 And he gives a few examples. 00:04:28.939 --> 00:04:37.520 He says, you know, Plato and the Greeks said that the source of evil is the body and its passions, that we need to overcome that, right? 00:04:38.140 --> 00:04:43.920 Rousseau said that the source of evil is human culture as opposed to pure nature. 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:51.840 Freud said that the source of evil was authority figures in family and society. 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:57.580 Marx said that it was economic forces and oppressive power structures. 00:04:58.340 --> 00:05:09.400 And Walters goes on to say, as far as I can tell, the Bible is unique in its rejection of all attempts to either demonize some part of creation as the root of our problems 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:14.099 or to idolize some part of creation as the solution. 00:05:15.099 --> 00:05:16.099 And you say, well, so what? 00:05:16.159 --> 00:05:18.120 This just sounds like semantic differences. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:19.879 What does that actually mean for me? 00:05:19.979 --> 00:05:24.299 Well, this is a huge deal for two main reasons. 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:32.419 Number one, if you believe that some aspect of the created world is the source of evil, 00:05:32.919 --> 00:05:38.279 then you're going to begin to believe that there are certain things in the world that are inherently evil. 00:05:38.279 --> 00:05:42.619 You're going to begin to divide the world in your mind. 00:05:42.699 --> 00:05:48.159 You're going to begin to see a line in the world between good and evil. 00:05:48.159 --> 00:05:52.299 You're going to begin to think of things in terms of good versus evil. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:59.159 You're going to begin to divide people into the categories of good and evil. 00:05:59.319 --> 00:06:07.819 You're going to be able to justify seeing certain people groups or ethnicities or nationalities or political parties as being inherently evil. 00:06:07.819 --> 00:06:10.699 And others as being inherently good. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.639 You can begin to see why this might be relevant for us. 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:16.459 So that's the first consequence of thinking this way. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:23.579 The second implication of this, if you believe that the solution to evil can be found in this world, 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:29.759 if you think that there is something that we have access to here in this world that can overcome evil, 00:06:30.500 --> 00:06:34.800 then you will inevitably turn certain created things into idols. 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:37.439 You're going to say, this thing is my greatest hope. 00:06:38.379 --> 00:06:40.199 This thing is what I need most. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:44.759 It's the thing that can overcome evil, that can solve all my problems, that will make everything better. 00:06:44.840 --> 00:06:45.639 I need this thing. 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:47.500 My life is not worth living without this thing. 00:06:47.620 --> 00:06:49.139 We're going to turn things into idols. 00:06:49.520 --> 00:06:52.379 And by the way, this is what the people in Colossae were doing. 00:06:52.740 --> 00:07:00.960 They were attaching idolatrous significance to certain diets, rituals, festivals, an ascetic lifestyle, 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:04.120 vivid visions, angel worship. 00:07:04.239 --> 00:07:06.959 These were things that they looked at and said, this is the key. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:11.039 This will unlock the deeper mysteries of true spirituality. 00:07:11.159 --> 00:07:13.339 They were idolizing certain things. 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:14.199 Right? 00:07:14.459 --> 00:07:20.319 If you think this way, you're going to begin to believe that human beings are capable of overcoming evil on our own. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:27.459 You're going to begin to think that all we need is our own morality, our intelligence, our technology. 00:07:27.459 --> 00:07:28.680 We need the right leaders. 00:07:28.899 --> 00:07:29.859 We need the right administration. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:31.459 We need the right policies. 00:07:31.739 --> 00:07:32.680 We need more awareness. 00:07:33.139 --> 00:07:37.439 And then we can overcome evil and solve all the biggest problems of the world. 00:07:37.919 --> 00:07:42.399 You're going to put all of your trust in human effort to overcome evil. 00:07:43.139 --> 00:07:44.159 We can save ourselves. 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:46.859 We can renew this world. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:50.959 And this isn't just something, by the way, that you find in religion. 00:07:51.120 --> 00:07:53.879 You know, some people hear this and they say, well, you know, that's why I'm not religious. 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:56.919 Well, this isn't something that you just find in religion. 00:07:56.920 --> 00:07:58.860 This kind of thinking is everywhere. 00:07:59.100 --> 00:08:01.360 It's the default setting for human beings. 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:06.340 That's why you find this way of thinking in virtually every worldview, religion, and philosophy out there. 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:09.960 Because this is naturally how human beings think. 00:08:10.939 --> 00:08:11.100 Right? 00:08:11.140 --> 00:08:16.200 This kind of thinking of this is evil and this is good and we can overcome evil and it's all here in the world. 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:18.700 This is the kind of thinking that divides people. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:22.560 This is the kind of thinking that reinforces tribalism. 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:28.439 It reinforces and undergirds racism or nationalism or jingoism. 00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:32.679 Many of the dynamics that are currently dividing our society today. 00:08:33.379 --> 00:08:38.720 The social psychologist Jonathan Haidt wrote a book called The Coddling of the American Mind. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:46.580 And in the book he identifies three great untruths that have permeated the academy and politics and society at large. 00:08:46.580 --> 00:08:56.580 And one of the great untruths that he says now sort of has come to dominate our thinking is the idea that life is a great battle between good and evil. 00:08:58.180 --> 00:09:01.420 It's this exact same dynamic playing out. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.520 He says that this way of thinking has come to dominate our society. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:09.100 I mean just to give one example of that I probably don't have to convince you of this. 00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:12.079 But this is a driving force in our politics. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:22.860 If you can make people afraid and then you can give them someone to blame you'll get elected. 00:09:24.620 --> 00:09:29.059 If you can convince people that some other group of people is the enemy. 00:09:29.259 --> 00:09:30.240 That they're dangerous. 00:09:30.419 --> 00:09:31.460 That they're the problem. 00:09:31.460 --> 00:09:35.660 And then you can convince them that you're the savior. 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:38.900 You can get votes. 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:41.500 It's a simple formula. 00:09:41.860 --> 00:09:41.960 Right? 00:09:42.240 --> 00:09:47.440 And this is the thing that all world views and philosophies and religions apart from the gospel have in common. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:52.340 They all point to something or someone in creation as the source of evil. 00:09:52.980 --> 00:09:55.340 And they point to something or someone else. 00:09:55.560 --> 00:09:56.840 Sometimes themselves. 00:09:57.139 --> 00:09:58.879 As the solution to evil. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:01.639 And Paul is saying you've got to be careful. 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:05.080 Ideas like this are seductive. 00:10:05.379 --> 00:10:06.320 They're persuasive. 00:10:06.659 --> 00:10:08.159 In the moment when you're suffering. 00:10:08.379 --> 00:10:10.000 When the problems are overwhelming. 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:11.820 When you're filled with fear and anxiety. 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:15.000 In that moment this kind of thinking is very appealing. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:17.259 Because everybody wants to know who do I blame? 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:18.439 Whose fault is it? 00:10:18.620 --> 00:10:19.539 Where's the evil? 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:24.519 Paul is saying it's seductive but don't be taken captive by it. 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:27.860 Because this is going to start to twist how you see yourself. 00:10:27.860 --> 00:10:30.000 It's going to twist how you see other people. 00:10:30.500 --> 00:10:34.000 It's going to twist especially how you see people with whom you disagree. 00:10:35.340 --> 00:10:39.180 It's going to lead you either to demonize something or someone. 00:10:39.419 --> 00:10:42.639 Or idolize something or someone. 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:47.340 It's going to distort the way that you imagine the world to be. 00:10:47.340 --> 00:10:50.639 And that can do a lot of damage. 00:10:51.860 --> 00:10:53.759 So then we ask well what's the alternative? 00:10:55.200 --> 00:11:01.720 What's the alternative if every worldview, philosophy, and religion out there sort of has within it this kind of thinking? 00:11:02.560 --> 00:11:03.460 What's the alternative? 00:11:03.460 --> 00:11:08.240 And this is why the gospel is such good news for the world. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:12.560 And why Paul's objective here is to bring us back to the truth of the gospel. 00:11:13.160 --> 00:11:19.900 And by the way this is why I believe our society is in desperate need not only of the message of the gospel. 00:11:20.100 --> 00:11:23.320 But of people who actually believe it and live it out. 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:26.400 Our society is in desperate need of such people. 00:11:27.100 --> 00:11:30.180 Here's why the gospel is a unique alternative. 00:11:30.179 --> 00:11:36.159 Unlike all other worldviews the gospel says that God created the world entirely good. 00:11:36.979 --> 00:11:37.879 Entirely perfect. 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:42.359 So nothing that you look at in creation was created evil. 00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:49.039 Everything in creation, everyone in creation was intended to be good and perfect. 00:11:49.199 --> 00:11:53.439 God looked at this world and he delighted in its beauty and its perfection. 00:11:54.379 --> 00:11:59.379 So evil, the gospel says, was not part of this world that God made. 00:11:59.379 --> 00:12:00.960 Evil entered in. 00:12:01.740 --> 00:12:03.980 Evil twisted God's good creation. 00:12:04.659 --> 00:12:08.299 Evil led human beings to rebel against God. 00:12:08.379 --> 00:12:12.200 The evil one, Satan, the deceiver, the tempter, right? 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:17.019 We read about the serpent in the Genesis account, but this is much more than that. 00:12:17.080 --> 00:12:23.000 This is evil entering in and twisting creation, leading to rebellion. 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:29.600 And because of this, Paul says down in verse 13 of this passage, that we are spiritually dead. 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:39.820 So unlike other religions, philosophies, worldviews that say you can overcome evil if you just do this thing or follow this path or accept these truths, then you can overcome evil. 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:41.419 The Bible is very unambiguous. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:42.700 You're spiritually dead. 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:45.820 You've got no hope of doing it on your own. 00:12:45.820 --> 00:12:54.660 But the biggest difference between the gospel and other worldviews is that the gospel does not offer simply a different philosophy. 00:12:54.800 --> 00:12:56.840 The gospel says, oh, your ideas are outdated. 00:12:57.580 --> 00:12:58.940 You need to just think this way. 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:00.360 That's not what the gospel says. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:04.560 It doesn't offer a new philosophy or a new set of propositions for us to accept. 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:07.240 The gospel offers us a person. 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:12.519 It says that the answer to evil in our world is the person of Jesus Christ. 00:13:13.299 --> 00:13:19.659 And if we understand who Jesus really is, we understand that Jesus is God entering in. 00:13:19.860 --> 00:13:34.440 Just as evil entered into the world, now God enters into His world in the flesh, in humanity, as Jesus Christ, in order to die on the cross, to overcome evil and death, and to set human beings free. 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.440 This is something that Paul has already laid out in this letter. 00:13:39.460 --> 00:13:48.660 And so the gospel has the power to begin to transform how we see ourselves and how we see the world around us and how we see God who made us. 00:13:48.680 --> 00:13:50.880 It begins to change all of that. 00:13:50.980 --> 00:13:53.500 We begin to break down our categories. 00:13:53.720 --> 00:13:58.060 We cease thinking in terms of good versus evil in the world. 00:13:58.160 --> 00:14:02.100 We recognize that good that God has overcome. 00:14:02.920 --> 00:14:04.300 There is no battle. 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:06.560 There is no epic struggle. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:11.740 We begin to realize that nothing in creation is inherently evil. 00:14:12.060 --> 00:14:14.300 God loves everything and everyone He's made. 00:14:14.580 --> 00:14:18.680 We begin to realize that everything, however, has been corrupted by evil. 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:32.919 So in that great quote from Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart. 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:36.639 This is a distinct Christian way of thinking. 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:43.839 It's one of the reasons we use this quote so often here is because it represents a distinctly Christian way of seeing the world. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:48.960 But this is why Christians recognize the dignity and worth of every single human being. 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:54.040 Everybody out there says, oh, human dignity, yes, human rights, we all believe in that. 00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:56.500 But Christians have a reason for believing it. 00:14:56.539 --> 00:14:58.159 We have a foundation for believing it. 00:14:58.419 --> 00:15:04.659 And it's because of what we believe about God and creation and the inherent goodness and worth of every human being that God made. 00:15:04.659 --> 00:15:17.980 This is why Christians should never see any people group or race or ethnicity or nationality or political group as being inherently inferior or inherently superior. 00:15:19.439 --> 00:15:26.939 This is why Christians should never think of political leaders or systems in terms of good or evil. 00:15:27.659 --> 00:15:33.480 This is why you can have faithful Christians who are Republicans or Democrats or something else. 00:15:34.659 --> 00:15:41.519 The world will be such one day where there may be no more United States. 00:15:41.659 --> 00:15:46.059 There may be no more Republican Party or Democratic Party or Independent Party. 00:15:46.339 --> 00:15:51.100 There may be a new nation with new political parties. 00:15:52.719 --> 00:15:59.579 Christians could be fully involved in those parties, fully involved in those approaches and policies. 00:16:00.059 --> 00:16:01.879 They could be fully involved in anything. 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:05.340 And gospel-centered Christians should be able to enter into politics. 00:16:05.779 --> 00:16:15.179 We should be able to interact with all the various philosophies and ideologies and worldviews, take what we can from them without being taken captive by them. 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:17.080 Right? 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:22.259 So the thing that Paul is calling us here is not to reject philosophy. 00:16:22.419 --> 00:16:23.580 It's not to reject politics. 00:16:23.700 --> 00:16:25.080 It's not to reject all of this. 00:16:25.080 --> 00:16:26.879 It's an inoculation. 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:33.540 You should be able to enter in, get involved, take what you can, interact, but not be taken captive. 00:16:33.660 --> 00:16:37.840 You should be immune to that because you're rooted in the greater truth of the gospel. 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:45.820 And this is only true, we're only able to do this if we live with all of our lives in line with the gospel. 00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:53.379 And this, connected back to our series, is why discipleship matters so much. 00:16:54.540 --> 00:16:57.460 So to go back to verse 6 now, Paul's exhortation, 00:16:57.660 --> 00:17:02.160 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. 00:17:02.220 --> 00:17:04.000 What a beautiful image of discipleship. 00:17:04.620 --> 00:17:10.720 Rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:19.319 So discipleship means staying on the path, vigilantly guarding against anything that might take us captive 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:22.920 by staying true to all that we have been given in Christ. 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:28.839 And you say, well, how can I ensure that I'm not taken captive by philosophy, empty deceit? 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:29.059 Right? 00:17:29.160 --> 00:17:30.319 Because it happens subtly. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:33.980 Churches over time just sort of slowly go off the rails. 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:39.539 They slowly begin to look more and more and more like a certain political ideology than they do the gospel. 00:17:39.539 --> 00:17:40.420 Right? 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:41.319 And it happens slowly. 00:17:41.460 --> 00:17:42.279 It happens quietly. 00:17:42.539 --> 00:17:43.420 It happens subtly. 00:17:43.539 --> 00:17:48.099 People sometimes don't even notice it until far past when it actually happened. 00:17:48.539 --> 00:17:53.399 And you say, well, how can we ensure that this isn't the case in our church, in me? 00:17:54.619 --> 00:17:58.940 And this is where Paul gives the Colossians three guiding principles, 00:17:59.059 --> 00:18:01.659 or you might think of them as sort of three diagnostic questions, 00:18:02.099 --> 00:18:06.779 each referring to a different aspect of Christian discipleship that safeguard our freedom. 00:18:06.779 --> 00:18:09.420 So if we could restructure this, what he's really saying is this. 00:18:09.539 --> 00:18:12.960 As you have received, so live. 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:17.159 As you were rooted, be built up. 00:18:17.879 --> 00:18:22.279 As you were taught, be established in truth. 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:26.839 So with the last few minutes that we have, we're just going to break each of those down. 00:18:27.220 --> 00:18:29.299 Number one, what does discipleship look like? 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:34.420 How do I make sure I'm not taken captive by these empty and divisive ways of thinking? 00:18:34.420 --> 00:18:38.560 As you received Christ, so walk in Him. 00:18:40.039 --> 00:18:44.880 Am I walking in line with Christ as I received Him? 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:47.200 And you say, well, how did you receive Christ? 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:52.080 I received grace by faith. 00:18:52.620 --> 00:18:56.480 It was through my faith and through His grace. 00:18:57.420 --> 00:19:01.140 It was by grace through faith that I received Him. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:03.900 That's what I received. 00:19:03.900 --> 00:19:15.720 And if you stay in line with that, then you know that there's nothing that you can do to make God love you any more or any less than He does at this moment. 00:19:16.840 --> 00:19:24.580 This reminds us, if I ever begin to believe that I can somehow impress God with my goodness or my devotion, 00:19:24.579 --> 00:19:29.839 that God is somehow sort of extra impressed with how much I care about this issue. 00:19:30.379 --> 00:19:32.519 If I ever begin to think that way, I'm going off the path. 00:19:33.220 --> 00:19:39.259 If I ever begin to think that God is disappointed or fed up with me because I fail, I'm going off the path. 00:19:40.099 --> 00:19:44.220 If I ever begin to see myself as spiritually superior to other people, 00:19:44.639 --> 00:19:47.539 or if I begin to see other people as spiritually superior to me, 00:19:47.639 --> 00:19:49.539 oh, they're such a better Christian than I am. 00:19:49.819 --> 00:19:52.779 If I begin to see other people as spiritually inferior to me, 00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:54.460 in all of these ways, I'm going off the path. 00:19:54.579 --> 00:19:56.039 How did I receive this? 00:19:56.779 --> 00:19:59.159 Grace by faith, right? 00:19:59.179 --> 00:20:01.839 It wasn't anything that I earned or deserved or could ever repay. 00:20:02.939 --> 00:20:06.359 God gave it to me as He gave it to you as He gave it to them. 00:20:07.379 --> 00:20:10.720 As you received, so walk in Christ. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:16.259 Then He says, as you were rooted, be built up. 00:20:17.379 --> 00:20:18.619 Another way to ask this would be to say, 00:20:18.619 --> 00:20:23.460 am I growing in my faith the same way I came to faith? 00:20:24.579 --> 00:20:26.220 Am I growing in my faith the same? 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:30.460 Is the means of my growth the same as the means of my conversion? 00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:32.419 And you say, well, what do we do when we come to faith? 00:20:32.639 --> 00:20:33.339 We repent. 00:20:34.659 --> 00:20:35.759 That's what you do, right? 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:37.039 Repent and believe. 00:20:37.539 --> 00:20:39.759 You repent and then you come to faith. 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:49.240 One of the main ways that we grow as disciples is through repeated, ongoing, daily repentance. 00:20:49.859 --> 00:20:55.980 And what Christians learn over time is that the more we repent, the more clearly we see our sin. 00:20:56.220 --> 00:21:01.000 And the more clearly we see our sin, the bigger God's grace gets in our lives. 00:21:01.140 --> 00:21:03.359 We say, I didn't realize your grace was that big. 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:08.099 I thought I only needed this amount of grace, and now I realize I need a whole lot more. 00:21:09.019 --> 00:21:10.719 And I realize that your grace is big enough. 00:21:12.059 --> 00:21:14.119 And, you know, this is very important for disciples. 00:21:14.299 --> 00:21:21.019 I think that many of us assume that if we have to repent for the same thing over and over and over, 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:23.459 that God sort of reaches a limit with us. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:29.500 You know, it's like I'm repenting for the 15th time this week for this same sin, 00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:34.539 that God kind of reaches a point where he's like, listen, I've let you off the hook, you know, 14 times, 00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:38.980 and I'm going to let you off one more time, but if you screw up again, we're done. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.019 And I think that we assume that that's the way God operates. 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:47.140 But the more we repent, the more we learn the truth. 00:21:49.900 --> 00:21:53.839 God's forgiveness is not rooted in the quality of your repentance 00:21:53.839 --> 00:22:01.099 or in your ability to sustain right behavior over a long enough period of time. 00:22:02.679 --> 00:22:08.459 God's forgiveness is rooted in the power of Christ's blood to cover all your sin. 00:22:10.980 --> 00:22:14.000 His forgiveness is not rooted in the quality of your repentance 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:18.159 or in your ability to sustain right behavior over a long enough period of time. 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:24.040 His forgiveness is rooted in the power of Christ's blood to cover all of your sin. 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:30.360 So come and repent again and again and again. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:37.920 As you were rooted, so grow through daily repentance 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:42.660 a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times. 00:22:43.300 --> 00:22:48.040 Every time you repent, God's grace will get bigger in your eyes. 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:52.100 Number three, finally, Paul says, 00:22:52.740 --> 00:22:56.500 as you were taught, be established in truth. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:01.480 As you were taught, be established in truth. 00:23:01.540 --> 00:23:04.640 This is the best way to translate this. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.440 It says faith in many translations, 00:23:06.660 --> 00:23:09.960 but what he's really talking about here is the teachings of the apostles. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:14.620 Do my beliefs, in other words, line up with the teachings of the apostles? 00:23:14.619 --> 00:23:19.319 This is another way to safeguard ourselves against ideological creep, 00:23:19.539 --> 00:23:22.500 against being slowly seduced and taken captive. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:25.779 We repeatedly come back to this question, 00:23:25.899 --> 00:23:29.000 am I still believing what I received from the apostles? 00:23:29.159 --> 00:23:32.339 And the way that Christians talk about this is the word orthodoxy. 00:23:33.419 --> 00:23:35.839 Are my beliefs still orthodox? 00:23:35.899 --> 00:23:37.619 This is why we have orthodoxy. 00:23:37.619 --> 00:23:39.579 It helps us answer the question, 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:42.599 am I in line with the teachings of the apostles? 00:23:42.699 --> 00:23:46.279 As I was taught, am I still established in that truth? 00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:49.000 And Paul's warning here is very real. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:52.559 Any departure from the faith, as it was taught to us by the apostles, 00:23:52.819 --> 00:23:55.319 will unavoidably lead into captivity. 00:23:55.479 --> 00:23:57.739 So when you have the church in various generations saying, 00:23:58.079 --> 00:23:59.939 this new idea has come along, this new way of thinking, 00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:01.179 this new way of seeing things, 00:24:01.399 --> 00:24:03.299 this new way of understanding the human condition, 00:24:03.299 --> 00:24:08.240 we're going to let go of some of these teachings to begin to focus and embrace these teachings, right? 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:10.700 This is exactly the kind of thing Paul's talking about. 00:24:11.859 --> 00:24:13.139 You're being taken captive. 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:15.480 Right? 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:17.180 We're going to talk about this more in the coming weeks, 00:24:17.319 --> 00:24:20.619 but Christian maturity is not possible without orthodoxy. 00:24:21.619 --> 00:24:23.359 And Paul says if you go down that way of thinking, 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:24.399 in one way or another, 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:29.259 you're going to end up either demonizing or idolizing something in the created world. 00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:30.200 Don't do that. 00:24:30.259 --> 00:24:31.440 Don't sacrifice your freedom. 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:35.180 So to bring all of this together, 00:24:36.259 --> 00:24:41.180 do you want a safeguard against empty and divisive ways of thinking? 00:24:41.340 --> 00:24:44.660 Do you want a way of living that keeps you on the path? 00:24:46.140 --> 00:24:48.580 Cultivate a daily reliance on God's grace. 00:24:50.500 --> 00:24:52.980 Repent as often as you can. 00:24:54.019 --> 00:24:56.279 And stay true to the teachings of the apostles. 00:24:57.400 --> 00:24:58.080 Let's pray. 00:24:59.620 --> 00:25:01.299 Lord, we thank you for your word. 00:25:01.440 --> 00:25:04.600 We thank you for this call in our lives. 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:08.500 And we thank you that you don't give us this call and then leave us to it. 00:25:09.100 --> 00:25:13.980 That, Lord, as we said last week, you are at work in us now. 00:25:14.080 --> 00:25:16.120 And so I pray that even as we hear these words, 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:18.180 you would be stirring us. 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:20.480 You would be speaking to us. 00:25:20.600 --> 00:25:24.440 You would be whispering your love and your grace to us where we need to hear it. 00:25:24.440 --> 00:25:27.320 You would be convicting and challenging us. 00:25:27.320 --> 00:25:30.920 That there are those of us who have grown far too comfortable with accommodation. 00:25:31.500 --> 00:25:33.000 And, Lord, we need to be stirred up. 00:25:33.059 --> 00:25:33.960 We need to be challenged. 00:25:34.100 --> 00:25:35.279 We need to be made uncomfortable. 00:25:36.140 --> 00:25:39.320 And there are others of us who are absolutely in distress. 00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:41.119 And we need your comfort. 00:25:41.980 --> 00:25:43.659 Only you know what we need. 00:25:43.700 --> 00:25:46.359 And I pray that you would do that according to your power. 00:25:46.439 --> 00:25:48.619 In the name of your son, Jesus, for your glory. 00:25:48.980 --> 00:25:49.240 Amen.