The Table California
The Table is a church family in Arroyo Grande, California. Our desire is to give Jesus His desire...a house where He can be Himself with His family. This podcast hosts the weekly teachings from our Sunday evening gatherings and occasionally supplemental conversations throughout the week.
The Table California
Righteous, Holy, & Whole
What if you knew that you were as righteous and holy as Jesus, and that complete wholeness was our starting point in Christ not the finish line? Today we look at the scandalous truth of the gospel that tells us faith in Jesus and repentance makes us a mirror image of His righteousness. These things are not just semantics or theological concepts, they are keys to living a kingdom life and showing the world how holy our God is.
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It's been really good. And this is women's Bible study. Yes, so I can't come. No, okay, I'm sad for you. I'm going to talk about you if you come. But we can grab ice cream. But we can grab ice cream, that's right. Me and the kids go get ice cream every Wednesday. We love women's Bible study, yeah, but if you are a dude who wants to go to a Bible study Friday mornings, 630, here in the building we're doing that. So just want to remind you about that. It's a great time we're doing still doing a chronological study through the walk of the life of Jesus. So, friday mornings, 630, men's Bible study. Women's Wednesday nights Okay, all right.
Speaker 1:One last thing, and then we're going to jump into the message. I have these booklets. We're going to be talking about one of the messages today righteous, holy and whole. I have them in the house. Have you read it? Yeah, I have them in the house. Have you read it? Yeah, I have them in the house. I would highly encourage you to grab these If you have not read these.
Speaker 1:We're going to be talking about righteousness, holiness and being whole today, but I fleshed it out a whole lot more in these little booklet forms and they're just great to have and read and mark up and write and pass off to others. So grab one If you don't have one. They're $5 each. The money doesn't go to me, it goes straight to the church. You can put the money in the little wooden boxes. You can scan the QR code. If you don't have $5, don't worry about it. Take a booklet anyway. I'd rather you take the booklet than the $5 be an issue. There's other ones as well One called the Abba revealed in Christ, and then another one on God's design for his church. You can grab all those, as well as the Jesus People Manifesto, but the one that I really want to point you to today is righteous, holy and whole.
Speaker 1:So, with that in mind and without further ado, let's talk about righteousness, let's talk about holiness, let's talk about being whole. I believe this is a message that I'll end up speaking at least once a year. It is absolutely foundational to being kingdom people knowing who we are in Christ, the man named EW Kenyon. He says this the moment a man knows that he is the righteousness of God and he knows what that means, the devil is sufficiently defeated, getting ready to make a big statement. Some of you may have heard me talk about this before and you've already reconciled this statement, but some of you are hearing this for the first time, so I can't wait to see the look on your faces.
Speaker 1:If you believe that Jesus is who he says he is and the kindness and the love of God has brought you to repentance for your sin, then you are as righteous as Jesus. You are as holy as Jesus. How you react to what I just said is an indicator of how whole you are. Now I'm going to explain what I mean by that, and we're going to connect righteousness and holiness to us being whole in just a minute. But for now, I want you to take inventory of what you felt when I said you're as righteous as Jesus. You're as holy as Jesus. What did that do inside of you, jesus? You're as holy as Jesus. What did that do inside of you?
Speaker 1:My main text for today is 2nd Corinthians, 5, 21. Paul says this he made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that we would become. This word become is genemi, the Greek word genemi. It means to be begotten or to be born so that we would become the righteousness of God in Christ. So I have three points that I want to make today. Number one it's illegal for you to think something about yourself that Jesus doesn't think about you. Point number two being righteous and holy is not what religion has told you. And number three knowing we are righteous heals our brokenness and makes us whole, our brokenness and makes us whole. So, point number one it's illegal for you to think something about yourself that Jesus doesn't think about you. If God says that his son became sin so that you could become the righteousness of God, then, friend, you are righteous and God's not impressed with false humility and I'm just a sinner saved by grace nonsense. Jesus took on sin so that you could take on righteousness, and not just any old righteousness. By taking on your sin, jesus made you holy and righteous. And if God says that you are holy, as he does in 1 Peter 2.9, hebrews 10.10, hebrews 12.10, colossians 1.22, colossians 3.12 and Ephesians 4.24, then it is illegal in the kingdom of God for you to think otherwise.
Speaker 1:Paul tells the church in Colossians Colossians 3.12, he says this that they are chosen by God, holy and beloved. The church cannot believe in and preach the finished work of Christ and simultaneously believe that they are still unclean. The church has allowed the spirit of religion to speak old covenant realities to a new covenant people. What do I mean by that? Well, we hear Isaiah say woe is me, for I am unclean, and we take on his perspective for ourselves. Or we hear Isaiah say we are all unclean and our righteousness is like filthy rags, and because it's between the covers of the Bible, we assume that Isaiah is speaking for us. Friends, we must understand the full counsel of God.
Speaker 1:Isaiah, under an inferior covenant, knew nothing of the regenerative, redemptive, restorative blood of Emmanuel. God, who he saw high and lifted up, would wrap himself in flesh, descend into the depth of humanity's sin and become unclean for us. Isaiah didn't understand that the covenant that Isaiah was under was a shadow of the things to come, that's Hebrews 10, one Of the things to come, that's Hebrews 10.1. So for anyone on this side of the cross To take on the perspective of a man under the old covenant Is like a slave who has received his freedom Yet continues to live as if he were in bondage. For freedom Christ has set us free.
Speaker 1:Untold multitudes are raised in a religious system that enforces old covenant language as a weapon to control them. The language of the new covenant is not. Woe is me, for I am unclean. The language of the new covenant of the Jesus people is don't you know that you're the temple of God, that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you? That's first Corinthians three, 16.
Speaker 1:Jesus didn't just rinse us off a little bit the way that we rinse off a dish before we put it in the dishwasher, where the real washing takes place. He didn't just rinse us off, man. We've been born again. He made us brand new. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Second Corinthians, 5, 17. Now, this is extremely important Key words in that verse is in Christ.
Speaker 1:If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. Not only are we in Christ, but, as Paul says in Galatians 2,20, christ is in us. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. So we are in Christ. Christ is in us. Religion will settle for you being around Christ, but the minute you begin to get the revelation that you are one with God and by way of that union, you are now righteous and holy, the spirit of religion knows it's lost its power to control you.
Speaker 1:Paul talks about the gospel as a mystery, and there was something hidden in this gospel that was hidden from previous generations. The mystery hidden for ages was not that a Savior would come and save us. All of the Old Testament prophets knew that a Savior was going to come and bring salvation. The mystery of the new covenant is that the Savior wouldn't just come, but he would come to live inside of his people, to take up residence and dwell, not just with man, but inside of man. If you are in Christ, then you are the temple not made with human hands. Consider that for a minute. Consider that for a minute.
Speaker 1:Paul makes an absolutely astounding claim in 1 Corinthians 3.16. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Holy Spirit dwells in you? Now think about that. Under the old covenant, the temple was the place where God's presence rested among his people. The Holy of Holies was a place where God dwelled. It was totally off limits, except for once a year when one consecrated priest could enter into that place. It was such a dangerous thing when the priest would go into the Holy of Holies. Who knows what they would do to the priest? They'd tie a rope around his waist in case he fell over dead in the presence of God, so at least I could pull them out. And now, according to first Corinthians 3, 16, the same presence that could only be entered into once a year by a consecrated priest is now our new covenant inheritance.
Speaker 1:Friend, if you are in Christ, you are not unclean. You are the righteousness of God and the dwelling place of the living, burning, all consuming, fiery presence of the uncreated, beautiful, all-powerful Holy Spirit of God. You are the righteousness of God and the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit in the earth. It is illegal for you to think something about yourself that Jesus doesn't think about. You think something about yourself that Jesus doesn't think about you. Point number two being righteous and holy is not what religion has told you it is.
Speaker 1:Most of us have been taught that holy means to be without sin and righteous means to be without sin and righteous means to be in right standing with God. So what are we saying when we say that God is holy and that God is righteous? Are we saying that God is without sin and that God is in right standing with himself? It's nonsense. The Bible says that God can't be tempted with evil. So saying that God is holy doesn't compliment him, if what we mean is he resisted something that he wasn't even tempted to do.
Speaker 1:I want to talk about this word holy first, and then we'll talk about righteous. Holy doesn't mean to be without sin. Holy means to be distinct, separate, altogether different than anything else. So when God says to us, be holy as I am holy, he's not saying never sin as I have never sinned. He's saying choose to be as distinct as I am. When Colossians 3.12 says that we are chosen by God, holy and beloved, it means that in Christ we are now of a unique and distinct kind, just as he is totally distinct. That's what it means to be holy, totally distinct. That's what it means to be holy.
Speaker 1:To live holy means that we refuse anything that would contaminate our distinction. Bear with me here. This is what it means to live holy, choosing to resist anything that would dilute or contaminate my distinction as the temple of God. See, most of us have it backwards. We think that the way we live determines who we are. That's putting the cart before the horse and the kingdom. Who we are in Christ enables us to live like someone who resisted every temptation known to man, when we know that we're holy in Christ, then we will bear the fruit of holiness in our lives.
Speaker 1:So I don't not sin, so I don't go to hell. I don't sin because I don't want to do anything that causes me to no longer be distinct. Does that make sense? I don't not sin because I'm afraid of going to hell. I don't sin because I don't want to dilute my distinction as a blood-washed son of God. I don't sin because I don't dare contradict the identity that God speaks over me.
Speaker 1:I want to talk about sin and the believer for just a minute. Great Yay, let's talk about sin. Think of it this way For the holy, beloved, chosen child of God, to sin is tantamount to a whale washing itself up on the beach. Can it happen? Yes, but how do we react when we see a whale wash up on the beach? People are stunned. News crews come to tell the story. The entire community is talking about it. It's shocking because it's completely contrary to the whale's internal nature. It's suicidal. That's what sin is like for the born again believer, who God now says is holy. No-transcript.
Speaker 1:The Greek word for sin is hamartia. Hamartia means to be distorted, to be broken in your identity. Sin means to be out of alignment with the original design that God has intended for you. How many have been taught that sin is bad moral behavior Doing things that are contrary to God's law? That's partially correct, but that's step two. Bad moral behavior is actually the fruit of the root issue, which is you and I living out of sync with how God designed us. The bad moral behavior is actually supposed to serve as an announcement that you're out of step with how the father has designed you, which should then bring you back into alignment with who the father says you are. So the beach whale has sinned in that it's acted out of harmony with how God designed it to live.
Speaker 1:We sin by first not knowing who we are and then by acting out of that distorted identity. Then sin lies to us and tries to re-identify us as sinners. Look at you, look what you did. You're a sinner, really, because what I do doesn't make me saved. I'm saved because of what Jesus did. I'm a son because of what Jesus did For anyone who is in Christ, and I cannot stress that enough in Christ. For anyone who is in Christ to believe for a second that their identity now is a sinner makes about as much sense as telling the beach whale that, because of what you've done, you're now a school bus. It's illogical. It's completely contrary to what God says about you. If you are in Christ, sin does not re-identify you as a sinner, any more than lying on the beach re-identifies the whale as a sunbather. It's still a whale. It's just out of alignment. When you sin, you're still a son. You're still a daughter. You're just out of alignment. You're still a daughter. You're just out of alignment.
Speaker 1:Let that sin be an announcement that something is wrong. Step back under the shadow of his wing. Repentance of getting ahead of myself. This is important, as if the other stuff isn't. This part is important. This doesn't mean that we disregard sin or tolerate sin or treat sin lightly. Like Paul says in Romans 6, 1,.
Speaker 1:Shall we go on sinning so that grace may abound? God forbid. We have died to sin. How can we live any longer in it? The result of continuing in sin is death. Make no mistake about it. If that beach whale doesn't get back into its natural habitat, it will die.
Speaker 1:This is where repentance comes in. Repentance is first changing the way that you think at such a core level that it then changes the direction that you're moving in such a core level that it then changes the direction that you're moving in. So somebody remind that whale that it's a whale. Get it back into its natural environment. In the same way, somebody remind that born again child of God that they are washed in the blood of the lamb. Get that saint back into its natural habitat. In him we live and move and have our being.
Speaker 1:So to reduce holiness to simply being the absence of sin is to miss the beauty of holiness altogether. When God says that we're holy, he's saying that we are distinct, just as he is distinct, and because we are distinct, we don't do anything that dilutes the uniqueness of who he says. We are, you're holy, now live like it. So let's talk about righteousness. How is everyone? Okay?
Speaker 1:Let's talk about righteousness for a minute. What does righteousness mean? Righteousness is the condition of one who is as he ought to be. So think about it this way If sin is being out of alignment, righteousness is being in alignment. You're in alignment with how god designed you. You're righteous, everything is in order, everything is is as it should be. When god says that you are now righteous, it means that you are now restored back to the Genesis 1 26 design that he had for you from the beginning. Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. Righteousness restores us back to his likeness. So being the righteousness of God means that God looks at you and says, wow, you remind me so much of me. Let us make man in our image and our likeness.
Speaker 1:Contrary to what most of us think, you can't grow in righteousness. Righteous is either something you are or you're not, and if you're in Christ, then, according to 1 Corinthians 1.30 and 2 Corinthians 5.21, the righteousness of God has been transferred to you. We can grow in our understanding of what it means to be righteous and we should, but you can't become more of something that God says you already are. Righteousness is an imputation, it's a transfer, it's not a process. Righteousness is transferred to us on the basis of what Anyone Faith, on the basis of faith. Romans four, three Abraham believed and it was credited to him, transferred to him as righteousness faith, abraham believing that faith. It was the gate that opened up the transfer of righteousness from God to Abraham. I'll give you an example.
Speaker 1:If a billionaire comes up to you right now, he's walking up right now and he says I'm going to give you a million dollars. Just give me your bank account. What are you expecting to see in your bank account tomorrow when you fire up your computer? A million dollars, like genuine billionaire, not some scammer. Genuine billionaire. You're expecting to see a million dollars in your bank account tomorrow. But what if you found that the billionaire had transferred $100 to you? You'd be like hold on, man, what's going on? The billionaire gave you his phone number, so you call him up. You're like hey, mr Billionaire, I appreciate the hundred bucks, but I'm sorry. I was under the understanding you were going to give me a million dollars. And the billionaire says oh, I am, I'm going to give you a hundred dollars every day for the rest of your life and then you're going to have a million dollars.
Speaker 1:That's how most of us think that righteousness works. We think that we receive the seed of righteousness that then grows into the oak of righteousness as we successfully navigate our way through sanctification for the rest of our days. That may be an accurate picture of growing in maturity, which is very important, but that's not how righteousness works. It was faith that put righteousness into Abraham's account in one transaction, not in a succession of days where Abraham did more good stuff than bad stuff. Listen to the rest of what Paul says about Abraham in Romans 4. This is verse 22 through 25. Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Speaker 1:Now, this was not written for Abraham's sake alone. That righteousness was imputed to him, but also for us. Righteousness shall be imputed to us who believe in him who raised Jesus from the dead. Come on, man, this is a great verse. Do you believe in him who raised Jesus from the dead? Then you're righteous. His righteousness has been transferred to you. Think of it this way when you believed in Jesus, did you receive a little bit of salvation? Of course not, just like you didn't receive a little bit of sonship from your parents when you were born.
Speaker 1:When I was born, I was born a son. I was a son instantly. It was my identity. A little bit of I was a son instantly. It was my identity. Now I'm spending my days growing in understanding of what it means to be a son, but that's a result of growing in understanding, not growing in sonship. As a son who honors my father, I've learned over the years who my father is, what he likes, what he dislikes, what's the culture of the family that he's established. But that doesn't make me more of a son now than on the day that I was born. It just means that I've understand the culture that my father established in his family and I've learned how to act in alignment with my identity as a son. Come on, man, this is good stuff. It is Amen.
Speaker 1:1 Peter 2.24 says this Because Christ bore our sins in his own body, we have died to sin and now we live for righteousness. We died to the distorted lie that we inherited from Adam and we now live to the original design image bearer. Now, why is it so important that we understand these things? Why is it so important that we understand these things? Is this just like some theological word, ninja stuff going on? No, this has very real application to your wholeness. Point number three knowing we are righteous heals our brokenness and makes us whole. So I want to go back to the beginning statement that I made. I want to flesh out that statement. How you reacted to me saying you are the righteousness. You are as righteous as Jesus, you are as holy as Jesus. How you reacted to that statement is an indicator of how whole you are. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 4, verse 6.
Speaker 1:Even King David speaks to us regarding the blessing, the total happiness, the complete wholeness that comes inside of a person when God's powerful declaration of righteousness is heard over their life. Even King David speaks to us regarding the complete wholeness that comes in alive inside of a person when God's powerful declaration of righteousness is heard over their life. The moment that you believed in him, who raised Jesus from the dead, god released a declaration over your life. This one is now righteous. That declaration of righteousness is intended to lead you from your old, broken life of sin and separation from God into your new life of complete wholeness, in God's design, does not come when you die and go to heaven in a glorified body.
Speaker 1:Complete wholeness doesn't come as a result of discipline and self-effort. We don't fast and pray our way into complete wholeness. Do we fast and pray? Yes, but not to become whole wholeness. Do we fast and pray? Yes, but not to become whole. Complete wholeness doesn't come as a result of binding and loosing and figuring out what level of masonry is sticking on you because of generational curses in your family tree. God intends for complete wholeness to come to you when you hear God tell you who you are to you, when you hear God tell you who you are.
Speaker 1:I'm not trying to minimize the process of growing in sonship in terms of maturing, understanding who we are. I'm not minimizing trauma that we experienced separated from Jesus. I'm not minimizing family junk that we've gone through. That still affects us. But God's design is when you believe that Jesus is who he says he is, you become righteous. And when you hear that declaration that intends to make you whole, wholeness is intended to be the starting point, not the finish line. That's the big point right there. Wholeness is intended to be the starting point, not the finish line. That's the big point, right there. Wholeness is intended to be our starting line, not the finish point. I'm almost finished.
Speaker 1:If you're broken today, hear God's powerful declaration over those who are in Christ. Jesus became a curse for you so that you could come alive. And the first thing that he intends for you to hear is you remind me of me, righteous, holy, distinct. If you're broken today, then know that he is near to the broken, but he's not just near to leave you broken. He comes near to make you whole. This is massively important, not just for your own life and your own relationship with God, but because the answer for a broken world is not just a God who is righteous and holy, but a people who are now righteous and holy and walk in wholeness because of what Jesus has done. God in this practical application, man. This is so important. God intends to show the world that he is so holy that he takes dirty, broken, lost, law-breaking, dead sinners who were once enemies of God, and makes them holy too. That's how holy God is. He intends for the world to know that he is so holy that anything that comes in contact with him becomes holy too. That's how holy he is. We understand that about the ground underneath the burning bush. We have no problem with the dirt underneath Moses' feet being holy, but God wants the world to see what he does with dirty people, not just patches of dirt. God has determined that the world will see him that way, when the people who are called by his name actually know who they are Righteous, holy, actually know who they are Righteous, holy not perfect, but absolutely distinct and in line with how he designed them to be.
Speaker 1:I want to close with a story. I heard this story from a man named Damon Thompson. He was preaching at a conference on identity. After the message this girl comes up to him and tells him the story of how her dad was really mean to her. I mean really mean. Called her ugly names, told her she was ugly, she wasn't pretty at all, that her eyes look like cat poop, dirty, ugly, nasty, brown eyes. Look at you. This is her dad talking to her. So she says at night I would go and I'd say God, please change the color of my eyes, give me blue eyes. I don't want to have these ugly eyes that my dad doesn't like. God, give me blue eyes. So the girl she tells Damon Thompson. She says look at my eyes. And it was dark in the sanctuary. So he gets a little bit closer and he sees she has the most beautiful blue eyes. He says oh my goodness, god changed your eye color. He gave you blue eyes. He says oh my goodness, god changed your eye color, he gave you blue eyes. She says no, they were always blue. I just believed what my dad was saying. I believed what my dad was telling me. I believed the lie.
Speaker 1:Many of us have believed what religion has taught us Dirty, unclean, you might be saved, but look at you, you're still a mess. God wants us to come face to face with the reality of what he says, of who he says. We are Holy Image bearers of a holy God, and when we do, we'll stop believing the lie and we will walk in wholeness and we'll show the world what a holy God can do with broken things. Amen. I know we normally have some time for interaction, but I feel like today, let's just, can we just sit for a minute. It's a weighty, a weighty message. Let's just sit for a minute and then, if we want to talk, let's, let's. Let's converse about the message over the meal. How's that? Okay, if anyone has questions for me, let's talk over the meal, but I want to give us a chance to just respond, respond to these things. So we'll take a few minutes and then I'll just close in prayer.
Speaker 1:Lord, all that we have is, by grace, everything that you've given us. God, it's because of your grace, lord. If salvation was all that you ever gave to us, it'd be more than we deserved. But, lord, you say that we are now righteous and we are now holy. Lord, you call us sons, you call us daughters. You come and you live inside of us.
Speaker 1:Lord, these things are scandalous. Holy Spirit, I ask that you would help us understand who we are, that we would walk worthy of our calling. That we would walk worthy of Jesus' sacrifice, that we wouldn't dilute or diminish what Jesus did on the cross. God, we would be walking embodiments of your power, of your authority, of your divinity, of your godness, of your godness, of what you do with surrendered, yielded vessels. God, I pray that our lives would be examples to others around us that either don't know Jesus or have a wrong understanding of what his blood actually accomplishes.
Speaker 1:Holy Spirit, baptize us in these things. Thank you, god. Thank you for the scandal of the gospel, thank you for the gospel of the kingdom. Thank you, jesus. Lord, we love you. Holy Spirit, the promise is that you will guide us into all truth. Guide us into truth that we would understand, that we would know that we would be a people who understand who God is and who we are. Thank you, Holy Spirit. So, lord, be with us as we fellowship. Thank you for this meal, or thank you for everyone who contributed to the meal. Lord, bless our time together, bless our conversation and our fellowship. Lord, thank you that we are yours and we belong to you. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen.