WEBVTT

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 Good morning, church. Let's read together. This is Romans 6, verses 15 to 23.

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! Slaves to righteousness. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?

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 By no means. Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey?

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 Whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness.

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 But thanks be to God, that though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.

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 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

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 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations.

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 Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness, leading to holiness.

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 When you are slaves to sin, you are free from the control of righteousness.

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 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?

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 Those things result in death.

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 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

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 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

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 That's great. Thank you, Elle. Let's pray together as we come to God's word. Let's pray.

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 Heavenly Father, we want to pray and ask for your help now as we come to your word.

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 We come as hungry people who want to feast on the delights of your truth.

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 So we pray, please, that you would give us attentive hearts, that you would give us open ears,

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 for me to speak clearly and faithfully, that you might be honoured and that we all might be done good, we pray.

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 In Jesus' name. Amen.

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 Amen.

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 We are back in the book of Romans after our Christmas break, and we are landing in the middle of chapter 6.

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 So what I am going to do, under the sort of suspicion that you might have forgotten all that we looked at previously,

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 is I'm going to try and give you a little bit of a catch-up so that we know where we are in the book of Romans.

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 I want you to imagine with me for a moment that you are the headteacher of a school,

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 one of those schools that says good school on the outside, you know, or maybe even outstanding school on the outside.

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 If you're going to be the headteacher of one of those schools, what is it that is going to make it a good school or an outstanding school?

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 Let me suggest that you have to insist on two things, probably more, but for the sake of this, two things.

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 One is that you have to, as the headteacher of a good school, insist that disobedient children are punished, held to account.

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 Students in a good school, if they punch the teacher, if they don't hand in their homework, if they abuse the other children,

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 they will be disciplined. Probably not with a stick, you are not allowed to do that anymore,

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 but maybe with a detention or maybe with removal from class.

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 Good schools do not tolerate bad behavior from their pupils.

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 But as well as punishing disobedience, the other thing as a headteacher that you will need to be committed to

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 is some sort of moral agenda for the school, some kind of way that you want the school to be,

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 that the values that that school is going to have, you might write them on a banner and stick them around the hall,

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 the expectations that you're going to have of the students, we're going to be generous,

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 we're going to be kind, we're going to be tolerant of one another,

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 we're going to be thoughtful, whatever it is.

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 Now, you might not call it that, but those two things, those two things of discipline and a sort of moral agenda,

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 theologically, those two categories are justice and holiness.

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 Justice, a commitment to punish wickedness, and holiness, a pattern of right living.

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 And the Bible is really clear from the beginning to the end that God, not as the headteacher of a good school,

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 but as the creator and lord over this world that he has made, is committed to justice,

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 he holds the world to account.

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 And he's committed to holiness, because there is a way to live that pleases him.

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 He has a culture.

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 He has a pattern for life that he insists on.

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 And Romans 1 and 2 presents us then with a massive problem,

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 a problem that we all feel and all know deep down,

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 which is that we ourselves have disobeyed this God of justice and holiness.

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 And more than just that,

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 our offense against the God of justice and holiness is so bad

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 that it is not possible for us to satisfy his justice

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 by a commitment to future holiness.

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 This is really important.

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 Listen up.

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 Go back to school again.

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 Let me try and imagine

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 that you're actually a pupil in the school rather than the headteacher.

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 And your offense is not so much that you didn't hand your homework in.

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 If that was your offense, right,

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 and you were given an after-school detention for not handing your homework in,

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 you might be able to go to the headteacher

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 and sit down in that detention and say,

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 listen, this is, you know, I know I deserve this,

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 but can I just plead for your mercy?

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 If I promise that I will do all future homeworks,

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 will you let me off this detention?

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 Imagine the headteacher might say,

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 well, you know, that's a, it is a minor offense.

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 I will let you off.

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 But imagine if your offense was greater than that.

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 Imagine you'd lurked outside the school,

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 mugged the headteacher, stolen his car,

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 locked him out of his office and broken into his home.

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 What would you then be able to do?

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 Surely you can see that you are not going to be able

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 to hand in future homework to satisfy his justice.

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 He wouldn't believe you even if you said it.

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 And Romans 1 and 2 tell you that this is our problem with God.

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 It is not so much that we've just committed a few minor moral offenses

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 that we could perhaps atone for by a pledge of future holiness.

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 Rather, the issue is that we have lived in God's world

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 with no reference to him.

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 We have tried to overthrow God and his rule.

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 We have taken the place that we've reserved for God

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 and put ourselves in it.

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 We have become self-centered instead of God-centered.

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 We've put our desires ahead of his desires.

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 We've lived as if our lives were from us and for us and to us

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 when really they're from him, for him, and to him.

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 And so now you understand, don't you,

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 we cannot offer to satisfy God's justice

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 by a commitment to future holiness.

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 God, if I obey you from now on, will you forgive me for the things

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 that I've done in the past?

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 It doesn't work because our offense is too great.

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 You cannot pitch God's holiness against his justice like that.

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 So we have a problem with God's justice.

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 And the focus of Romans 3, 4, and 5 is how is a God of justice

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 ever going to be satisfied by people like us?

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 How can condemnation-deserving people like us

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 ever be saved by a God of justice without him ceasing to be just?

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 And Paul's point has been that God in Christ has solved this problem.

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 He himself has satisfied justice.

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 Andrew referenced this earlier.

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 In Romans chapter 3, Paul writes,

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 we are justified freely by his grace

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 through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

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 In other words, God in Christ has offered free satisfaction

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 for his justice, released from guilt as a free gift,

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 received by faith, whereby you and I can be declared not guilty.

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 Not because God is lying or cooking the moral books or anything,

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 but because we've received it by faith

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 through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.

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 An empty hand of a new heart that receives what it could never earn.

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 That's Romans 3, 4, and 5.

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 God's justice satisfied.

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 But when we come to chapter 6,

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 there needs to be more than just the satisfaction of God's justice

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 because God is also holy.

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 He is committed to holiness.

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 Go back to school again and just see what I mean.

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 Imagine that you're that child that mugged the head teacher,

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 took his office, stole his car, plundered his house,

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 and now you're sat with him,

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 and through some means that we don't need to explain,

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 he has forgiven you.

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 Justice has been satisfied.

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 And you sit there, it has been offered to you freely.

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 There's no price left to pay.

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 But the question now is, what are you going to do now?

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 What about holiness?

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 What's going to stop this forgiven kid from running back to the classroom

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 and causing further havoc?

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 What's to say this kid won't rob the head teacher again?

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 What's to say he won't do something worse?

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 Satisfying justice is one thing,

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 but what about a commitment to holiness?

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 Where's that going to come from?

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 Those are the questions of Romans 6, 7, and 8.

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 You might remember, if you were with us,

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 that this question was asked at the beginning of Romans 6.

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 Take a look at Romans 6, verse 1.

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 Paul writes there, what should we say then?

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 If God's justice is satisfied,

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 and we've been released back into the world,

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 if you like, released back to the classroom,

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 shall we go on sinning that grace may increase?

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 Really, the question there is,

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 is there just an endless loop?

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 You know, the rebellious sinner is sent back into the world,

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 forgiven by grace,

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 goes back into the world, rebels some more,

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 comes back to receive some more grace,

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 goes back into the world, rebels some more,

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 and just goes around this endless loop.

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 Well, the answer that we saw last time,

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 Romans 6, verse 11,

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 the very first instruction in the book of Romans,

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 no, it's not the answer.

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 That's not what happens,

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 because we should count ourselves dead to sin

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 and alive to God.

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 One, I am dead.

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 Two, I will be alive.

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 In other words, this is the key to all this.

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 The faith that receives forgiveness from the Lord Jesus

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 is not an intellectual persuasion of an unchanged person,

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 but it is the life breath of a new heart

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 that has been made alive by God himself,

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 and that life longs to live.

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 We were dead.

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 We're now being made alive.

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 So the child returning to the classroom

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 is not just forgiven,

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 but in receiving forgiveness has been made new.

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 They're a new person,

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 and this new person wants to live for God.

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 The sin loop is broken.

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 Now, that's Romans 6, verses 1 to 14,

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 and now, at the start of our passage

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 that El just read for us,

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 in chapter 6, verse 15,

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 there is a very similar,

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 but slightly different question.

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 Look down at it with me.

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 What, then?

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 Here the concern is not so much about an endless loop of sin and grace,

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 but rather if we are saved by grace and not by obedience,

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 then what will teach us obedience?

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 If the law, if God's rules which were over us,

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 and they were showing us where we were going wrong,

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 if they are no longer binding on us and over us in that sense,

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 how will we know what to do?

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 Now, again, just go back to the headteacher's office for a moment.

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 Imagine you've been forgiven for your offense of mugging the headteacher

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 and have been returned to the classroom.

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 You know, don't you, then,

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 that your relationship with the headteacher

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 is not based on your works, but on his kindness to you.

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 That's how you've related to him.

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 You related to him in a way that doesn't reflect what you do

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 because you did the worst,

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 but a way which reflects who he is, which is kind.

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 So that his rules and his pattern of holiness

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 is not the basis on which he's related to you.

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 You were liberated from that.

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 He related to you by his kindness

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 and not your rule keeping.

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 So if that's the case, the question in your mind is,

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 if rule keeping doesn't rule my relationship

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 with the headteacher, what am I supposed to do?

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 How do I live?

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 If the spell of the law has been broken,

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 if you put it that way,

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 what is left to teach me?

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 What's the incentive?

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 What's the motivation to behave well

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 if my behavior doesn't secure my relationship

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 with the headteacher?

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 And that's the question here.

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 If you're justified by grace

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 and the law, rules for obedience,

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 had nothing to do with it,

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 then the law is defunct.

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 There's nothing left to teach you how to live.

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 So do we just sin because we don't know what to do?

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 Are we destined just to be ignorant of God's holy ways?

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 That's the question we're asking this morning.

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 Now let's take a breath, right?

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 I realize that the danger this morning

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 is all this is very theoretical,

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 perhaps a little intense.

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 Maybe you're sitting there thinking

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 this feels like a philosophy lecture and not a sermon.

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 Actually, I've never been to a philosophy lecture,

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 so I don't know, but maybe it does.

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 But perhaps you're struggling to connect

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 with what's been said.

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 I know what it's like to be sat where you're sat,

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 and I know that ultimately we are hungry, aren't we,

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 to hear what God says from his word.

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 And going on in our minds are all the different troubles

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 and struggles that we've had this week

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 and which we're anticipating next week.

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 You know, we've got the rent to pay.

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 We've got the worries about work.

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 We've got the relationship struggles.

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 I don't want to hear about teachers and detentions

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 and, you know, theories about justice and holiness.

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 I just want to hear what God says to me,

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 and I just want to be encouraged this morning.

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 Listen, if that's you, maybe that is,

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 I mean, it's really, it's all of us, isn't it?

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 Let me just try and say to you

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 that these aren't abstract ideas.

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 These are urgent truths.

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 The truth is, I think, if you don't have good answers

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 to the questions of Romans 6,

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 if you don't know the connection

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 between being saved by Jesus

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 through his grace and his mercy

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 and living a holy life

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 to keep pleasing him,

00:14:47.700 --> 00:14:49.560
 if you don't know the connection between those two,

00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:52.419
 you will not know how to live the Christian life

00:14:52.419 --> 00:14:54.399
 wherever it is that you're living it.

00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:56.779
 If you don't know how the grace of forgiveness

00:14:56.779 --> 00:14:58.219
 relates to the work of holiness

00:14:58.219 --> 00:14:58.979
 in which we're engaged,

00:14:59.339 --> 00:15:01.439
 life will be a mystery to you, right?

00:15:02.139 --> 00:15:03.979
 We won't know what difference

00:15:03.979 --> 00:15:06.039
 being a Christian makes to us on Monday morning

00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:08.019
 or when we cook the dinner on Tuesday night.

00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:11.199
 I don't want to overstate it.

00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:12.859
 Preachers can overstate things, can't they?

00:15:13.859 --> 00:15:15.759
 Vanessa accuses me of that from time to time.

00:15:15.839 --> 00:15:17.279
 Are you just talking like a preacher, Steve,

00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:18.659
 or is it really that bad?

00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:20.519
 I don't want to overstate it.

00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:22.839
 But I think it is fair to say

00:15:22.839 --> 00:15:26.299
 that many of the sort of ground level struggles

00:15:26.299 --> 00:15:27.879
 that we have in our Christian life

00:15:27.879 --> 00:15:29.839
 are because we don't understand this.

00:15:31.379 --> 00:15:34.039
 So many churches, you know,

00:15:34.139 --> 00:15:35.240
 bigger churches than ours,

00:15:35.419 --> 00:15:37.699
 go wrong in answering this question.

00:15:38.339 --> 00:15:40.379
 And it screws up the life of the people there.

00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:42.980
 So listen up, because this is really, really important.

00:15:44.019 --> 00:15:45.899
 I want to show you firstly the big idea.

00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:47.519
 The big idea.

00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:51.220
 Look down with me at the passage.

00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:53.079
 Let's see how Paul answers the question.

00:15:53.220 --> 00:15:54.439
 Verse 15, let's start again.

00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:55.199
 What then?

00:15:55.939 --> 00:15:58.659
 Shall we sin because we are no longer under the law,

00:15:58.720 --> 00:15:59.579
 but under grace?

00:15:59.980 --> 00:16:01.699
 Are we just going to do whatever we want

00:16:01.699 --> 00:16:02.879
 because we don't know what to do?

00:16:03.439 --> 00:16:04.659
 By no means.

00:16:05.459 --> 00:16:07.500
 Don't you know that when you offer yourself

00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:09.059
 to someone as obedient slaves,

00:16:09.179 --> 00:16:11.120
 you are slaves of the one you obey?

00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:14.600
 Whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death,

00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:16.580
 or to obedience, which leads to righteousness.

00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:20.779
 But thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin,

00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:23.379
 you have come to obey from your heart

00:16:23.379 --> 00:16:26.500
 the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance.

00:16:27.340 --> 00:16:29.000
 You have been set free from sin

00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:31.120
 and have become slaves to righteousness.

00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:34.100
 Notice the big idea then.

00:16:34.480 --> 00:16:36.639
 The grace that forgives does not leave us

00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:38.139
 without a concern for holiness

00:16:38.139 --> 00:16:41.419
 because grace, the grace that forgives,

00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:44.799
 is both about a transfer of ownership

00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:47.120
 and a transformation of desire.

00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:49.539
 This is the language, isn't it, here?

00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:50.879
 It's the language of slavery.

00:16:51.560 --> 00:16:53.200
 Really the idea of belonging.

00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:57.420
 It wasn't strange in the first century in Rome

00:16:57.420 --> 00:17:00.840
 for people to own other people and dictate what they did.

00:17:01.340 --> 00:17:03.180
 Now, Paul is not condoning that.

00:17:03.540 --> 00:17:05.120
 He's just using it for an illustration.

00:17:05.700 --> 00:17:08.299
 And his point is that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ

00:17:08.299 --> 00:17:11.400
 experienced in salvation, received by faith,

00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:14.880
 has liberated us from the master of sin,

00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:16.740
 from slavery to sin.

00:17:17.299 --> 00:17:19.519
 But no longer to go our own way,

00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:23.259
 but rather transferred our ownership to obedience,

00:17:23.740 --> 00:17:24.940
 the ownership of God.

00:17:25.660 --> 00:17:28.579
 And so now we obey not to earn forgiveness

00:17:28.579 --> 00:17:31.720
 because fundamentally we now belong to God.

00:17:33.220 --> 00:17:34.960
 But there's more to it than just that.

00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:37.799
 Because being transferred from the ownership of sin

00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:39.420
 to the ownership of God himself

00:17:39.420 --> 00:17:43.200
 also comes with a transformation of desire.

00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:45.639
 Notice it, verse 17.

00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:49.200
 We now obey from the heart the pattern of teaching

00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:50.559
 which has now claimed our allegiance.

00:17:51.840 --> 00:17:54.160
 Here it is then, our experience of the saving work

00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:56.600
 of Jesus Christ, our faith in him,

00:17:56.819 --> 00:17:58.740
 which comes from these new hearts

00:17:58.740 --> 00:18:00.000
 that he's given us by the Spirit,

00:18:00.299 --> 00:18:02.600
 that comes with a whole new set of desires.

00:18:03.700 --> 00:18:06.940
 So that obedience is no longer external obedience

00:18:06.940 --> 00:18:08.740
 to a set of external rules

00:18:08.740 --> 00:18:10.840
 with the hope of receiving merit,

00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:15.620
 but an internal desire on an internal law

00:18:15.620 --> 00:18:17.080
 that's written on our hearts,

00:18:17.180 --> 00:18:18.680
 driven by a love of the Lord.

00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:23.360
 Let me try and explain how this works.

00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:25.940
 Imagine in the classroom,

00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:28.140
 there is a set of rules on the wall, right?

00:18:29.220 --> 00:18:30.620
 Hand in your homework on time.

00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:32.759
 Don't stand on the desks.

00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:35.039
 Address the teacher with respect.

00:18:35.819 --> 00:18:36.600
 Wear a tie.

00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:37.319
 Okay?

00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:39.000
 These are the school rules.

00:18:39.179 --> 00:18:40.119
 They're on the wall.

00:18:40.439 --> 00:18:43.899
 Imagine three different students looking at those rules.

00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:47.159
 Number one is only really interested

00:18:47.159 --> 00:18:48.539
 in getting their own way.

00:18:49.059 --> 00:18:50.240
 They're a rebel, right?

00:18:50.899 --> 00:18:53.279
 So they read the rules and they go,

00:18:53.779 --> 00:18:54.839
 I hate this school.

00:18:55.419 --> 00:18:56.599
 I hate being here.

00:18:57.219 --> 00:19:00.459
 This list of rules is the way that I can ruin this school

00:19:00.459 --> 00:19:03.819
 and I can show my rebellion against the school.

00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:06.699
 So I read, hand your homework in time.

00:19:06.779 --> 00:19:07.579
 What am I going to do?

00:19:07.899 --> 00:19:10.339
 I am definitely never going to hand my homework in time.

00:19:10.439 --> 00:19:11.859
 That's definitely not what I'm going to do.

00:19:12.179 --> 00:19:13.319
 It says, don't stand on the desk.

00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:14.099
 So what am I going to do?

00:19:14.399 --> 00:19:16.159
 I'm going to stand on the desks.

00:19:16.279 --> 00:19:17.299
 I know that will offend them.

00:19:17.719 --> 00:19:18.939
 Address the teacher with respect.

00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:20.579
 So I will swear at the teacher.

00:19:20.899 --> 00:19:23.240
 I will wear a hoodie instead of a tie to school.

00:19:24.019 --> 00:19:24.659
 Do you see the thing?

00:19:24.779 --> 00:19:25.899
 They're a rebel.

00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:27.539
 They want their own way.

00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:29.740
 So they read the rules and they go,

00:19:29.740 --> 00:19:32.859
 this is what I rebel against to get my own way,

00:19:32.959 --> 00:19:34.259
 to be my own person.

00:19:35.879 --> 00:19:37.839
 But suppose there's another child in the class

00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:42.139
 and that child, they really want to be a doctor or a lawyer,

00:19:42.419 --> 00:19:43.599
 something fancy, right?

00:19:44.099 --> 00:19:45.019
 And they've worked out, listen,

00:19:45.099 --> 00:19:48.319
 the best way for me to be who I want to be,

00:19:48.379 --> 00:19:50.399
 a doctor or a lawyer or whatever it is,

00:19:50.959 --> 00:19:53.000
 the best way for me to be that person

00:19:53.000 --> 00:19:55.579
 and get to be who I really want to be

00:19:55.579 --> 00:19:57.799
 is to keep the rules, right?

00:19:58.299 --> 00:20:00.240
 So they read, hand your homework in.

00:20:00.299 --> 00:20:02.240
 And they think, well, the best way for me to become a doctor

00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:04.219
 is for me to hand my homework in on time.

00:20:04.299 --> 00:20:06.179
 So I'm going to hand my homework in time.

00:20:06.939 --> 00:20:09.079
 I know that the best thing for me to do

00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:10.359
 is not offend or upset the teacher.

00:20:10.439 --> 00:20:11.539
 So I'm going to keep those rules.

00:20:11.539 --> 00:20:15.279
 Do you see that between those two students,

00:20:15.339 --> 00:20:16.960
 there's no difference in their motives?

00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:19.579
 Both of them want their own way.

00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:22.379
 Both of them are mastered by their own desires.

00:20:23.059 --> 00:20:26.339
 One of them is persuaded that rebelling against the rules

00:20:26.339 --> 00:20:27.539
 is the best way to do that.

00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:30.059
 And one of them is persuaded that keeping the rules

00:20:30.059 --> 00:20:31.099
 is the best way to do that.

00:20:31.259 --> 00:20:32.519
 But there is no difference.

00:20:33.379 --> 00:20:35.299
 And that's what it's like in this world, right?

00:20:35.299 --> 00:20:37.919
 Like humanity says to God, I want to be in charge.

00:20:38.059 --> 00:20:39.059
 I want my own way.

00:20:39.180 --> 00:20:40.659
 I want to control my own destiny.

00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:42.960
 I want to live as if you're not here.

00:20:44.059 --> 00:20:45.819
 And it's as if the law says to people,

00:20:45.919 --> 00:20:47.619
 as if God's law in the Old Testament says to people,

00:20:47.700 --> 00:20:49.559
 listen, here you go then.

00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:52.200
 This is the operating system of the universe.

00:20:52.879 --> 00:20:54.519
 This is how you need to live.

00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:58.519
 And the rebels go, well, if that's what you say we need to do,

00:20:58.559 --> 00:20:59.819
 I'm going to do the opposite, God.

00:21:00.659 --> 00:21:02.159
 I'm going to do whatever I want to do.

00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:03.200
 I'm going to go my own way.

00:21:04.100 --> 00:21:06.019
 And other people, often religious people, go,

00:21:06.140 --> 00:21:08.980
 well, if that's the operating system of the universe,

00:21:09.040 --> 00:21:10.380
 then I will keep that.

00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:12.700
 And then you will have to do what I tell you to do, God.

00:21:13.600 --> 00:21:15.980
 But both of them are mastered by their own desires.

00:21:16.380 --> 00:21:17.000
 Both are wicked.

00:21:17.180 --> 00:21:17.800
 Both are selfish.

00:21:20.340 --> 00:21:22.320
 But imagine a third child in the classroom.

00:21:23.340 --> 00:21:25.440
 That child has just received forgiveness,

00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:28.980
 free forgiveness for mugging the headteacher,

00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:32.080
 robbing his house, taking over his office.

00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:36.880
 And the receipt of that forgiveness has come with transforming power

00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:38.740
 and transformed desires.

00:21:39.620 --> 00:21:41.460
 They were owned by themselves,

00:21:41.600 --> 00:21:45.040
 and they're now owned by the forgiving affection of the headteacher.

00:21:45.800 --> 00:21:46.920
 They're on his team.

00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:49.759
 How do they read the rules?

00:21:51.220 --> 00:21:52.380
 Well, they read them and go, do you know what?

00:21:52.380 --> 00:21:53.440
 I love this teacher.

00:21:54.560 --> 00:21:56.300
 The headteacher loves me.

00:21:57.340 --> 00:21:59.480
 He is full of mercy, kindness.

00:21:59.600 --> 00:22:01.540
 He's forgiven me a debt I could never pay.

00:22:01.539 --> 00:22:03.680
 I want to please that headteacher.

00:22:04.859 --> 00:22:08.500
 And so the rules are not over me to earn anything,

00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:13.159
 but they're a guide as to what pleases God himself.

00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:16.879
 So I'm going to do my best to hand my homework in.

00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:18.319
 I'm going to sit in my chair.

00:22:18.399 --> 00:22:20.299
 I'm going to respect the teacher and wear a tie,

00:22:20.680 --> 00:22:24.000
 because that is what I want to do,

00:22:24.539 --> 00:22:26.579
 because I want to please him.

00:22:26.579 --> 00:22:28.659
 Now that's it.

00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:33.099
 Saving faith, the faith that receives justification,

00:22:33.919 --> 00:22:37.159
 satisfaction for God's justice through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

00:22:37.599 --> 00:22:41.299
 That faith wants to please God.

00:22:41.299 --> 00:22:43.539
 Not in an effort to get what it wants,

00:22:43.700 --> 00:22:45.039
 but because it loves him,

00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:46.259
 because it's alive to him,

00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:47.659
 because it's grateful to him,

00:22:47.700 --> 00:22:48.579
 to be owned by him.

00:22:48.879 --> 00:22:50.159
 So it reads the scriptures,

00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:51.419
 it scours the law,

00:22:51.500 --> 00:22:53.059
 it shapes its life around it,

00:22:53.059 --> 00:22:56.379
 because it longs to live in a way that pleases God,

00:22:56.500 --> 00:22:57.599
 that makes him smile.

00:22:59.180 --> 00:23:00.259
 And here's the point.

00:23:00.259 --> 00:23:05.220
 It is only that kind of obedience that pleases God,

00:23:05.960 --> 00:23:08.980
 because all other kinds of obedience are selfish.

00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:12.099
 It's why the writer of the Hebrews says,

00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:15.599
 without faith, it's impossible to please the Lord.

00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:18.339
 Because keeping the rules,

00:23:18.420 --> 00:23:21.319
 while at the same time sort of flipping God off in your heart,

00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:22.920
 is not good, it's wicked.

00:23:24.819 --> 00:23:26.259
 Let me speak to you this morning,

00:23:26.339 --> 00:23:27.720
 if perhaps you're not a Christian,

00:23:27.720 --> 00:23:32.700
 and you assume that you can keep a certain set of rules

00:23:32.700 --> 00:23:34.440
 and get God off your back,

00:23:35.120 --> 00:23:37.339
 and he will do what you want him to do.

00:23:38.039 --> 00:23:40.380
 Let me tell you, that is not how this works.

00:23:40.779 --> 00:23:42.259
 That is selfishness.

00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:44.960
 That is flipping God off,

00:23:45.019 --> 00:23:46.779
 while also trying to keep his rules.

00:23:47.480 --> 00:23:48.380
 It doesn't go together.

00:23:49.500 --> 00:23:51.600
 Actually, what we need is a new heart,

00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:52.900
 a heart of faith,

00:23:53.539 --> 00:23:55.819
 that receives from God his free forgiveness,

00:23:55.819 --> 00:23:58.179
 and then loves to live to please him.

00:23:59.639 --> 00:24:01.019
 That's the big idea here.

00:24:01.679 --> 00:24:03.159
 Faith comes with a new ownership,

00:24:03.379 --> 00:24:05.019
 and new ownership comes with new desire.

00:24:05.500 --> 00:24:07.220
 There is also a big instruction.

00:24:07.720 --> 00:24:09.220
 So let's see this in verse 19.

00:24:09.319 --> 00:24:10.319
 Look down at verse 19.

00:24:11.460 --> 00:24:11.839
 Paul writes,

00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:28.959
 This is the do this moment of the passage.

00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:30.779
 This is the application.

00:24:30.940 --> 00:24:31.600
 If you're making notes,

00:24:31.700 --> 00:24:33.980
 this is what I am to do

00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:35.819
 as a result of what I've learned this morning.

00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:37.079
 Here it is.

00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:40.819
 Offer yourself as a slave to righteousness

00:24:40.819 --> 00:24:41.779
 leading to holiness.

00:24:42.740 --> 00:24:44.259
 Notice how Paul explains it.

00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:45.539
 He draws a parallel, doesn't he,

00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:47.000
 between our previous commitment

00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:48.779
 to impurity and wickedness,

00:24:48.940 --> 00:24:51.140
 and our new commitment to holiness.

00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:53.940
 You see, prior to our forgiveness

00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:55.660
 received through transforming faith,

00:24:55.740 --> 00:24:57.440
 we offered ourselves to wickedness.

00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:58.400
 That's how he put it.

00:24:59.180 --> 00:24:59.660
 In other words,

00:25:00.299 --> 00:25:01.820
 we took every opportunity

00:25:01.820 --> 00:25:03.140
 for self-exaltation,

00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:05.779
 every opportunity to get ahead,

00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:07.400
 to get our own way.

00:25:07.840 --> 00:25:09.759
 We were ambitious for our own success,

00:25:09.840 --> 00:25:10.580
 for our own crown.

00:25:10.860 --> 00:25:12.220
 We would do whatever it took

00:25:12.220 --> 00:25:13.400
 to get ahead of the crowd.

00:25:13.900 --> 00:25:15.539
 We were interested in ourselves,

00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:17.160
 in our own plans, our own desires.

00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:18.640
 We would sacrifice to them.

00:25:18.700 --> 00:25:21.360
 We would go without sleep and without food

00:25:21.360 --> 00:25:22.279
 if we thought it meant

00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:24.500
 that we would get what we wanted for ourselves.

00:25:25.120 --> 00:25:26.620
 We would live in poor conditions.

00:25:26.619 --> 00:25:28.239
 We would compromise our consciences.

00:25:28.399 --> 00:25:29.500
 We would break the rules

00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:31.459
 just to get on an extra rung

00:25:31.459 --> 00:25:33.339
 of the ladder of the glory of me.

00:25:35.979 --> 00:25:38.099
 But now we're to swap all that out.

00:25:39.179 --> 00:25:40.839
 Holiness in the life of the believer

00:25:40.839 --> 00:25:42.019
 sees what God has done,

00:25:42.099 --> 00:25:44.259
 that God has transformed us and owned us.

00:25:44.979 --> 00:25:47.459
 That faith is not just the empty hand

00:25:47.459 --> 00:25:49.079
 that receives the free gift of forgiveness

00:25:49.079 --> 00:25:50.559
 and justification from Jesus,

00:25:50.639 --> 00:25:52.239
 but is also a life force,

00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:55.339
 a driving new desire to please God.

00:25:56.460 --> 00:25:57.559
 So now I sacrifice.

00:25:58.339 --> 00:25:59.500
 I take up my cross.

00:25:59.620 --> 00:26:01.099
 I endure hardship and loss,

00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:04.000
 but not for my glory or my fame,

00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:05.180
 but for God's.

00:26:06.259 --> 00:26:07.359
 I'm following Jesus.

00:26:09.019 --> 00:26:10.839
 Wherever he takes me, I will go.

00:26:12.759 --> 00:26:15.839
 Whatever will drive me deeper into him,

00:26:15.980 --> 00:26:16.940
 further on with him,

00:26:16.940 --> 00:26:18.660
 that's what I'm going to do.

00:26:20.120 --> 00:26:21.340
 If that means I'm going to go

00:26:21.340 --> 00:26:22.759
 against the pattern of this world,

00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:25.059
 I will go against the pattern of this world.

00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:26.680
 If it means that my friends

00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:27.840
 all go in one direction

00:26:27.840 --> 00:26:29.160
 and I go in the other direction,

00:26:29.559 --> 00:26:30.539
 I will do it.

00:26:30.779 --> 00:26:32.100
 If it means that God leads me

00:26:32.100 --> 00:26:33.299
 to a country not my own

00:26:33.299 --> 00:26:34.420
 and to a people not my own,

00:26:34.460 --> 00:26:35.019
 I will go.

00:26:35.640 --> 00:26:36.880
 If it means that God asks me

00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:37.779
 to love my wife,

00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:38.620
 care for my kids,

00:26:38.779 --> 00:26:39.519
 belong to church,

00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:40.720
 read my Bible,

00:26:40.900 --> 00:26:42.039
 love people different from me,

00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:43.720
 share the Lord's Supper

00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:45.180
 with people with whom

00:26:45.180 --> 00:26:46.799
 I only have Christ in common,

00:26:47.460 --> 00:26:48.299
 I will do it.

00:26:49.900 --> 00:26:52.039
 If it means leading an anonymous life,

00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:53.579
 living under the radar,

00:26:54.180 --> 00:26:55.600
 a life of quiet generosity,

00:26:55.839 --> 00:26:57.600
 prayerful love of a small group of people,

00:26:57.720 --> 00:26:59.380
 a lifetime of witness to a community

00:26:59.380 --> 00:27:00.660
 that doesn't know a savior,

00:27:01.140 --> 00:27:03.019
 I will do it.

00:27:03.019 --> 00:27:05.339
 Not in my strength for my glory,

00:27:05.720 --> 00:27:07.440
 but for Christ and in the strength

00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:08.980
 that faith in him brings.

00:27:09.579 --> 00:27:10.620
 Lord, I am yours.

00:27:11.539 --> 00:27:12.860
 Take me and use me.

00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:16.940
 I'm reading a really helpful book

00:27:16.940 --> 00:27:18.480
 at the moment called Ordinary

00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:20.380
 by a guy called Michael Horton.

00:27:20.940 --> 00:27:21.460
 And in that book,

00:27:21.500 --> 00:27:23.100
 he quotes someone

00:27:23.100 --> 00:27:23.860
 who is describing

00:27:23.860 --> 00:27:24.880
 the particular challenge

00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:25.620
 that she faces

00:27:25.620 --> 00:27:26.680
 in her Christian life.

00:27:27.620 --> 00:27:29.319
 She spent much of her earlier years

00:27:29.319 --> 00:27:30.079
 as a young person

00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:31.400
 on mission in South America

00:27:31.400 --> 00:27:32.539
 working with street children.

00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:35.100
 And now she finds herself at home

00:27:35.100 --> 00:27:36.640
 looking after her own children.

00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:38.980
 And she says that it is taking

00:27:38.980 --> 00:27:41.140
 more spiritual courage and faith

00:27:41.140 --> 00:27:42.079
 to love her husband,

00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:43.640
 listen to her kids,

00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:44.759
 tell the same stories

00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:45.720
 over and over again,

00:27:46.120 --> 00:27:46.860
 wash the dishes,

00:27:47.259 --> 00:27:48.660
 get home ready for another day

00:27:48.660 --> 00:27:50.059
 than it did to pick up sticks

00:27:50.059 --> 00:27:51.779
 and go and work in South America.

00:27:52.980 --> 00:27:53.960
 That's it here, right?

00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:56.079
 The call of Romans 6

00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:57.360
 is not the call to be brilliant.

00:27:58.740 --> 00:28:00.799
 The call is not to change the world.

00:28:00.940 --> 00:28:02.799
 God has that covered, right?

00:28:03.220 --> 00:28:04.860
 The call is to surrender

00:28:04.860 --> 00:28:07.240
 and hand it all over to him.

00:28:07.819 --> 00:28:09.120
 To lay down your crown

00:28:09.120 --> 00:28:10.380
 and take up your cross.

00:28:10.380 --> 00:28:12.300
 You know, anyone can build

00:28:12.300 --> 00:28:13.500
 some kind of Christian version

00:28:13.500 --> 00:28:15.620
 of fame and self-fulfillment.

00:28:15.880 --> 00:28:17.180
 People do that all the time.

00:28:18.140 --> 00:28:19.900
 But that's not holiness.

00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:22.600
 Instead, the faith-fueled

00:28:22.600 --> 00:28:23.920
 Christian life says to the Lord,

00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:26.280
 all the glory belongs to you

00:28:26.280 --> 00:28:28.100
 and so do I.

00:28:29.360 --> 00:28:30.720
 Take me and use me.

00:28:31.400 --> 00:28:32.860
 I offer myself to you.

00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:34.280
 That's the instruction.

00:28:35.120 --> 00:28:36.840
 Offer yourself to God.

00:28:36.839 --> 00:28:38.699
 Finally, though,

00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:39.639
 there's a big incentive.

00:28:39.759 --> 00:28:41.639
 Look down at verses 20 to 23.

00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:44.179
 When you were slaves to sin,

00:28:44.759 --> 00:28:45.619
 you were free

00:28:45.619 --> 00:28:46.939
 from the control of righteousness.

00:28:48.099 --> 00:28:49.799
 But what benefit did you reap

00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:50.939
 at the time from the things

00:28:50.939 --> 00:28:52.259
 you are now ashamed of?

00:28:53.139 --> 00:28:55.099
 Those things result in death.

00:28:56.000 --> 00:28:56.980
 But now that you have been

00:28:56.980 --> 00:28:58.339
 set free from sin

00:28:58.339 --> 00:28:59.899
 and have become slaves of God,

00:28:59.980 --> 00:29:01.039
 the benefit you reap

00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:02.519
 leads to holiness

00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:04.740
 and the result is eternal life.

00:29:04.740 --> 00:29:07.400
 For the wages of sin is death,

00:29:07.779 --> 00:29:08.920
 but the gift of God

00:29:08.920 --> 00:29:09.859
 is eternal life

00:29:09.859 --> 00:29:11.640
 in Christ Jesus our Lord.

00:29:13.220 --> 00:29:14.299
 I think Paul here

00:29:14.299 --> 00:29:14.960
 is anticipating

00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:16.319
 some kind of objection, isn't he?

00:29:17.579 --> 00:29:19.279
 Listen, this idea of

00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:21.920
 being an obedient slave to God,

00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:24.660
 that sounds kind of dangerous, right?

00:29:25.380 --> 00:29:27.839
 That idea sounds

00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:30.920
 almost sort of scary.

00:29:31.779 --> 00:29:32.940
 Why am I going to give up so much?

00:29:32.940 --> 00:29:34.019
 I would understand

00:29:34.019 --> 00:29:35.440
 a commitment to holiness

00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:37.039
 in order to earn salvation.

00:29:37.360 --> 00:29:38.980
 That equation makes sense to me.

00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:40.860
 But holiness is surrendered

00:29:40.860 --> 00:29:42.080
 to a God who owns me

00:29:42.080 --> 00:29:43.000
 and gets all the glory.

00:29:43.100 --> 00:29:43.980
 Why would I do that?

00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:46.420
 Well, Paul asks,

00:29:46.539 --> 00:29:47.519
 listen, what was the benefit

00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:48.620
 of living life

00:29:48.620 --> 00:29:49.500
 for your own glory?

00:29:50.519 --> 00:29:52.140
 You know, all that kind of immorality

00:29:52.140 --> 00:29:53.700
 and that self-exaltation,

00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:55.620
 that life that you lived

00:29:55.620 --> 00:29:56.720
 where basically it was about

00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:57.700
 getting up another rung

00:29:57.700 --> 00:29:58.140
 on the ladder

00:29:58.140 --> 00:29:59.100
 of the glory of you.

00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:00.380
 How was that for you?

00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:01.100
 How did it work out?

00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:01.860
 Where was it going?

00:30:01.859 --> 00:30:03.939
 Oh yes, I remember.

00:30:05.059 --> 00:30:05.459
 Death.

00:30:05.799 --> 00:30:06.939
 That's where it goes.

00:30:07.939 --> 00:30:08.859
 But the gift of God

00:30:08.859 --> 00:30:10.079
 to belong to him,

00:30:10.159 --> 00:30:11.819
 to be his obedient slave,

00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:14.119
 the life of holiness,

00:30:14.259 --> 00:30:15.079
 where does that lead?

00:30:15.819 --> 00:30:17.419
 Oh, that leads to eternal life,

00:30:17.659 --> 00:30:18.259
 don't you remember?

00:30:19.399 --> 00:30:20.219
 Life eternal.

00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:22.439
 Again, notice how this works.

00:30:22.539 --> 00:30:23.559
 Notice that the implication

00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:25.519
 is that Christ forgives

00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:27.119
 and makes us holy.

00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:29.919
 The gospel is not just justice,

00:30:29.919 --> 00:30:31.679
 it's also holiness.

00:30:32.219 --> 00:30:33.459
 Because we are not just

00:30:33.459 --> 00:30:34.699
 returned to the world

00:30:34.699 --> 00:30:35.519
 the same people,

00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:36.439
 but we are transformed

00:30:36.439 --> 00:30:37.399
 by the Spirit

00:30:37.399 --> 00:30:38.699
 through faith in Christ.

00:30:39.479 --> 00:30:40.759
 So it's not just forgiveness

00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:42.299
 that brings us eternal life,

00:30:42.679 --> 00:30:43.519
 it's holiness

00:30:43.519 --> 00:30:44.939
 that brings us eternal life.

00:30:45.179 --> 00:30:46.179
 Not because the holiness

00:30:46.179 --> 00:30:47.299
 is ours in the sense

00:30:47.299 --> 00:30:49.339
 that we are earning eternal life

00:30:49.339 --> 00:30:50.679
 by our credits,

00:30:50.759 --> 00:30:52.239
 but rather because holiness

00:30:52.239 --> 00:30:54.339
 is the growth in us

00:30:54.339 --> 00:30:55.279
 and the flourishing

00:30:55.279 --> 00:30:57.659
 of what Christ has done for us.

00:30:58.519 --> 00:31:00.859
 It is us becoming more and more

00:31:00.859 --> 00:31:02.339
 who we are in Christ

00:31:02.339 --> 00:31:05.339
 so that we are slaves

00:31:05.339 --> 00:31:06.579
 that receive life,

00:31:07.220 --> 00:31:08.639
 not as wages,

00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:09.939
 but as a gift.

00:31:10.919 --> 00:31:12.319
 It's an oxymoron, isn't it?

00:31:12.379 --> 00:31:13.000
 You know, it's a kind of

00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:14.199
 contradiction here.

00:31:14.599 --> 00:31:15.319
 Notice this, right?

00:31:15.699 --> 00:31:17.879
 Slaves are normally worked to death,

00:31:18.419 --> 00:31:20.059
 used, abused, and dispensed with.

00:31:20.779 --> 00:31:21.480
 It's why slavery

00:31:21.480 --> 00:31:22.779
 is never condoned by the Bible.

00:31:22.779 --> 00:31:25.000
 Slavery is really the peak

00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:26.740
 of inhumanity, isn't it,

00:31:26.740 --> 00:31:27.759
 to others.

00:31:28.859 --> 00:31:30.359
 But slavery to God,

00:31:30.839 --> 00:31:32.200
 ownership by Him,

00:31:32.660 --> 00:31:34.680
 is not being worked to death,

00:31:35.180 --> 00:31:37.720
 it's being worked to life.

00:31:38.700 --> 00:31:40.200
 In fact, it's not even

00:31:40.200 --> 00:31:41.819
 worked to life as a wage,

00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:43.599
 it's worked to life as a gift.

00:31:45.099 --> 00:31:46.539
 This is the great incentive.

00:31:47.079 --> 00:31:48.279
 Why would you not want

00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:49.639
 to offer yourself to God?

00:31:49.879 --> 00:31:50.960
 Why would you not want

00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:52.059
 to lay down your crown

00:31:52.059 --> 00:31:53.079
 to live for His glory

00:31:53.079 --> 00:31:53.839
 and not your own?

00:31:54.099 --> 00:31:55.279
 Why would you not want

00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:55.740
 to do that?

00:31:55.779 --> 00:31:56.799
 Because that is the road

00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:58.000
 to life and joy.

00:31:58.819 --> 00:32:00.079
 Every other way of living

00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:01.839
 is full of death and decay.

00:32:02.879 --> 00:32:03.960
 You know, live for yourself

00:32:03.960 --> 00:32:04.859
 and you will die

00:32:04.859 --> 00:32:05.639
 from the inside.

00:32:05.839 --> 00:32:06.700
 Even if your life

00:32:06.700 --> 00:32:08.019
 looks brilliant, right?

00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:10.500
 Even if everyone else

00:32:10.500 --> 00:32:11.139
 around you thinks,

00:32:11.279 --> 00:32:12.240
 wow, look at Him.

00:32:13.720 --> 00:32:14.819
 Inside you're dying

00:32:14.819 --> 00:32:17.599
 and you will die.

00:32:18.740 --> 00:32:20.099
 But live for God,

00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:23.500
 live for Him in holiness

00:32:23.500 --> 00:32:25.359
 and joy will grow

00:32:25.359 --> 00:32:26.799
 and flourish and blossom

00:32:26.799 --> 00:32:28.700
 even in the ordinary moments

00:32:28.700 --> 00:32:29.339
 of life

00:32:29.339 --> 00:32:31.200
 until one day,

00:32:32.059 --> 00:32:34.000
 as Natasha was saying to us,

00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:36.159
 we will be with the Lord Jesus,

00:32:37.740 --> 00:32:38.639
 seated with Him,

00:32:38.640 --> 00:32:41.420
 enjoying eternal life

00:32:41.420 --> 00:32:44.840
 in holiness forever.

00:32:45.580 --> 00:32:46.540
 Let me pray.

00:33:00.860 --> 00:33:02.320
 Heavenly Father, thank you

00:33:02.319 --> 00:33:05.119
 that in the Lord Jesus,

00:33:05.279 --> 00:33:06.319
 not only have you done

00:33:06.319 --> 00:33:07.919
 everything that was required

00:33:07.919 --> 00:33:09.740
 for our forgiveness,

00:33:11.079 --> 00:33:12.379
 you have also done

00:33:12.379 --> 00:33:13.659
 everything that is required

00:33:13.659 --> 00:33:14.579
 to make us holy.

00:33:16.740 --> 00:33:18.480
 Thank you that in the Lord Jesus,

00:33:19.439 --> 00:33:20.619
 through faith in Him,

00:33:21.159 --> 00:33:22.639
 by the power of the Spirit,

00:33:23.379 --> 00:33:24.639
 we have the strength

00:33:24.639 --> 00:33:25.500
 to live lives

00:33:25.500 --> 00:33:26.639
 which please you,

00:33:27.639 --> 00:33:29.059
 not for our glory,

00:33:29.059 --> 00:33:30.779
 but for yours.

00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:33.000
 Lord, we know

00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:34.399
 because we're honest

00:33:34.399 --> 00:33:37.059
 that there's a way to go

00:33:37.059 --> 00:33:38.619
 still for each of us.

00:33:39.799 --> 00:33:41.139
 Oh Lord, so please we pray,

00:33:41.940 --> 00:33:42.759
 might you continue

00:33:42.759 --> 00:33:43.779
 to make us into

00:33:43.779 --> 00:33:45.440
 who we already are in Jesus.

00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:49.399
 Make us more and more

00:33:49.399 --> 00:33:51.480
 like Him, we pray.

00:33:52.179 --> 00:33:52.899
 In His name.

00:33:53.740 --> 00:33:54.099
 Amen.

00:33:59.059 --> 00:34:01.460
 Amen.

00:34:01.460 --> 00:34:01.460


00:34:01.460 --> 00:34:01.460


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