Episode 16: Responders Not Initiators Part 5

In the Old Testament there were punishments and consequences when Israel sinned; in the New Testament, the punishments were placed on Christ liberating us from all punishments. Even though all punishment has been placed on Christ at the crucifixion, there are still consequences to sin. In this episode, we explore the beauty of God's grace and the pitfalls we can fall into when cooperating with such a gift; we are responders, not initiators. 

Transcript

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Faith people are responders to what Jesus has done. We do not react to what the world is what is happening in the world around us. We are responding to what Jesus has done or what he is doing in us. That is our response. So I want to carry on from what we talked about on the last episode. I I said a statement that was somewhat radical, and then I want to I unpacked it, but then there is a a method of thinking that Christians and people automatically move to when you say that radical statement. And so what I want to do is I want to unpack uh that thought process to kind of uh smooth over some uneasiness if there is any. So uh over the last episode, the last episode, we started talking we talked about forgiveness, and I and in the previous episode, this is episode 16, so in episode 14, I said a radical statement that was not everything that Jesus says in the Gospels is for the New Testament believer. Last episode I went into greater detail about that, and so I encourage you to go look at episode 15, The Responders Not Initiators, part four, so that you are kind of up to speed on this one. But to re-emphasize, not to go into greater detail, but to re-emphasize what what I said is that I when I approach on the concept of forgiveness, and I showed you in I showed you in uh Matthew chapter 6, 14 through 15, that Jesus says that if you do not forgive, your father in heaven will not forgive you. But it says in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 32, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. So I showed you that in the Old Testament, under the law, which the Gospels are, there was a requirement for us to do something in order for God to respond to us. But in the New Testament, we don't risk God's not responding to us, we are responding to what Jesus has done on the cross. That's why there is a difference. In the Old Testament, they're going towards the cross, in the New Testament, we are coming from the cross. So you have to have that mindset, you have to have that perception when you are approaching the gospels. Is Jesus talking, is Jesus talking to me or is he talking to someone that is under the law? I gave you some techniques, I gave you some advice on how to recognize the things that Jesus says. Is he talking to us or is he talking to those that are under the law? Again, go back and look at that episode. So, what I want to do today is I want to pick up on that episode and I want to uh relay, I want to smooth some easiness over this one this concept. On the last episode, I said something along the lines of this that we are no longer being punished for things, but there are consequences. I think I did an explanation, kind of a long drawn-out explanation of that. I didn't really say it that simple, but that was kind of one of the themes that came out over our discussion over not everything that Jesus says in the Gospels is for us. And so what I want to do, what I want to do is I want to unpack that. So let me say it again. We are no longer being punished by by not for disobedience, we're no longer being punished for sin, but there are consequences. Okay? It says in It says in 1 Corinthians 10 23 that everything is permissible, but not all things are beneficial. What does that mean? Permissible basically means that that uh everything is permissible. What that means is that everything is allowed. We can do anything that we want, okay, under the New Covenant. Because notice that that is in 1 Corinthians, that is a New Testament letter. So we can do anything that we want in the New Testament, okay? Why? Because there is no punishment. Jesus took our punishment, he took the penalty under the law for the wages of sin is in the role in the book of Romans, chapter 6. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, right? So Jesus took the penalty for our sin. He became sin so that we could become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He took the penalty, he paid the price for our punishment, and so and liberates us from not being punished because all punishment was put on Jesus on the cross. But there are consequences. Okay? Under the Old Testament, there were punishments and consequences. Read Deuteronomy chapter 28. There were both punishments and consequences, right? If you didn't follow the law, if you broke the law, then there was a punishment from God, there was a curse from God that because you did not follow the rules, you did not follow the law. But under the New Testament, there are no punishments. Why? Because the judgment was placed on Christ, but there are still consequences. Okay? And so there are many believers, there are many believers that when they hear this concept, okay, this concept, especially in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 23, all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial. They read this and read this and they say, okay, that means I can do whatever I want because I'm not I'm not under the law, but I'm under grace. Again, it says in Romans chapter 6, so we just continue to sin because we're not under the law, but under grace. Paul says, God forbid. But there are Christians, and he says that he has the same concept that pops up in Galatians, it pops up in Romans. He's constantly, he teaches the New Testament, he teaches the grace of God so radically and so perfect that the people who are listening to him, their only logical response is okay, so I can do whatever I want. God loves me, God is for me, he's never against me, the price has been paid, so I can do whatever I want and still go to heaven. And there are elements of that that is true because again, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 23, all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial. But there is a danger to that because again, there are still consequences. And I will even say this, I will even say this. If you hear the good message of the gospel, which is God's no longer holding his your trespasses against you, that he is not counting your iniquities against you, that that this his your sins that have been forgiven, and that he has cast them into the sea of forgiveness, for forgetfulness, he is for he has forgotten them, he's thrown them as far as east is from the west. If you hear the gospel and your first response, okay, that means I can just do whatever I want, I even challenge if you are even saved. Because it is the heartbeat of the of the one that has been saved to do everything to it is required to honor our Savior. And if you take the grace of God, that everything that Jesus has done for you, and you use it as permission to sin or permission to go off and rebel, I even question whether you're saved. But there's a difference between choosing to sin or struggling to sin. So what I want to do is I want I want to talk about sin. Because I opened up the I opened up the situation. You could do anything you want, right? You can do anything you want, it's allowed, but it's not but not all things are beneficial. I opened it up, so I what I want to do is I want to teach this on the level of sin because that is the easiest one, it's the foundational one. I'm not gonna go into detail about specific sins, but I want to talk about what sin is, I want to talk about um the uh the effects of sin, which leads into the consequences. I want to talk about all that, but then at the end of this episode, I'm gonna move back into what we talked about the last episode, talking about forgiveness. Okay, and I want to make it practical because again, the heartbeat of this podcast is to make things practical. Okay, so first of all, what is sin? The word sin in the original language and meant it basically means to miss the mark. Think of like a you're you're shooting at a target, whether a gun or archery, it does not matter. Think about your shooting at a target. If you shoot the target and you hit the target spot on, you have met the mark. But if you're shooting at the target and you totally miss the target, that is what it means to sin. There is a target of living, there is a target of thinking, of operating, of moving, of ministry, whatever. There is a target that we are supposed to meet, that God has set up. There is a standard of living that God has set up that we are when we are aiming for that we're supposed to hit. And whenever we don't hit that target, whenever we don't hit that standard, we have sinned. In the Old Testament, it was the law, right? It was the law. That was the target, that was the standard of living. If you did not follow the law, you have sinned, right? Okay, so that's what sin is. But in the New Testament, it's still the same thing. That there are many things that carry over from the Old Testament to the New Testament, and one of those things is the definition of sin. Okay? It is still hitting the target. It is still, if we sin, that means we have missed the target. That is the whole point to admit hit the standard. The difference is the law told you this is what the standard is, but it couldn't help you meet it. In the New Testament, in the New Testament, we know what the standard is because it's been written upon our hearts. That says in the book of Hebrews, okay? It's Hebrews or Romans. It's been written upon our hearts, so we know it. We know the standards of God, but in the New Testament, God has actually come down to help us meet that standard, right? He has fulfilled the standard, because Jesus says, I have come to fulfill the law, right? I've not come to abolish it, but to fulfill it. So the law has been fulfilled, right, in Christ. So if we are in Christ, Christ helps us to do what he has already done, which is what? Fulfill the law, right? And so that's the New Testament. So one of the definitions of sin is um uh missing the target, right? But in the New Testament, there is they add the there is other definitions and they don't contradict, they're just adding a different depth of understanding. One of the definite another definition is when someone does what they know they're not supposed to. So when you do something that you know that you're not supposed to, that is sin. In other words, that's another form of missing the standard. The standard is this is the activity, this is the response that you're supposed to do in it in these situations. When you don't do that, you've missed the mark, or you have done something that you knew you weren't supposed to do, therefore you have sinned. But there's another one, another definition that I really want to camp on. Because this is one is missed. It is the definition, I think it's in Hebrews, where it says, All things that are done without faith is sin. Everything that is done without faith is sin. Okay? Now, what is faith? I'm not gonna go into great detail because there I believe that there will be a time where I actually teach on faith. But basically, faith is it's more than just trust. Because I've heard that being that's the definition of faith. It's just trusting God. There's more to it than that, okay? That is the very true, very foundational definition, but there is a little bit more to it than that. But what is faith? Faith is the re faith is our response to the grace of God. In Ephesians chapter 2, it says, For by grace are you saved through faith. Grace saved you, but you had to respond to the grace through faith. So it is our actions, it is what we do in response to what Jesus has done or is currently doing. Sounds like the title of this series of episodes. We are responders, not initiators. Faith people are responders to what Jesus has done. We do not react to what the world is what is happening in the world around us. We are responding to what Jesus has done or what he is doing in us. That is our response. People of faith are responders. We don't react. We choose our actions according to what Jesus has done, right? So sin is when you do something that is not in faith. And what is faith? Responding to Jesus. Responding to Jesus. So if you are have if you are in a financial crunch, right? And God has told you not to get a second job, but trust him, and you are freaking out, and you say, Okay, no, I can't do this. I have to get another job. By getting another job, you've only disobeyed God, so that is sin because you've missed the mark, you've missed the standard, right? But you've also done something out of faith, which is what? Responding to the verdict of the Lord. Right? So anything that is not, and so here, and let me let me say this, guys. We do this, we respond out of faith so often. That's why in the New Testament it is ten times harder not to sit, because it's literally everything that's out of faith is considered sin. That's why, that's why in the New Testament all the penalty has been paid, right? The wages of sin or the wages of disobedience or the wages of faithless activity is death, separation from God. But those who are in Christ, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So if you are in Christ, there's no penalty, there's no punishment for screwing up for disobeying God. There isn't a penalty, but there are consequences. There are consequences, okay? So let's go into detail about this consequence piece. Again, all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial. If you are a liar, and what do I mean by that is that you consistently lie, there will be a trust issue that will be established among your friends. It says in Proverbs 14 25, a truthful witness saves lies, but one who breathes out lies is deceitful, right? So when you have a history of being deceptive, if you have a history of being deceitful, you're you're you'll hinder making friendships. People will not trust you, so that will hinder any connections that are required for job opportunities, promotions, uh love relationships. So the point is, guys, does God punish us for sinning? In this case, lying. Does God punish us for lying? I mean, it even says in the New Testament, thou shalt, I mean, in the Old Testament, under the law, thou shall not lie. Well, if they lied under the Old Testament, right, there was a punishment given by God. But in the New Testament, there's no punishment. Right? There's no punishment because the punishment has been placed on Christ. But there still are consequences. What is the difference between a punishment and a consequence, especially in this context? Punishments come from God. Consequences are just birthed out of the are just birthed out of our disobedience. They don't come from God. They're situations that are a result of our own actions. So if you are constantly lying, if you're constantly being deceitful, if you're constantly being manipulative, if you're constantly doing this stuff, you are going to tarnish, you're going to hinder any formation of relationship that might be required for comfort, might be required for advancement into your future. You see my point? So there are, so there are, and the consequences are everywhere according to sin. So if you are understanding this, you could probably look at the law. Yes, if they didn't follow the law, there was punishments, but you could also look at the law through New Testament lenses and say the law was probably one of the best things that God could have done to the children of Israel. Because he was laying it out for them on specifically stone, but for us on paper, saying this is what you should not be doing. Why do I not want you to do these things? Because I love you enough to tell you there are consequences. Yes, there are punishments, but there are consequences to these actions. I don't want you to be sexually immoral. Why? Because it is difficult to raise a child when you're not united in covenant. I don't want you to be promiscuous. Why? Because there are there are thought processes, there are mindsets, that are perceptions that taint your identity, that taint your viewpoint of yourself, that you will not that you will struggled to get past, that I don't want you to go through. So again, is a is a false perception of yourself because you because men you're sleeping with women a whole lot, or women you're sleeping with men a whole lot, is false perceptions of yourself, is that a punishment from God? No, it is the consequence of our actions. Right? If you go off and kill somebody and someone finds out and you're thrown in prison, oh God's punishing me. No, it's a consequence of the action. Right? And so, again, all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial. God allows us to do everything that we want. He loves you, he's for you, he's not against you, you're still going to heaven. But but there are still consequences to the sin, okay? But again, if you are if you see the grace of God and your response is I can do whatever I I want, I doubt you're even saved. Because again, there is a difference between struggling in sin and choosing to sin because you know that you're not being punished. And in fact, in fact, if you are continuing to sin, and it's a sin, it's a piece that um you're not struggling, you're not fighting it, but you have let it go, you have you've said, I've chosen this, God will actually approach you and say, Okay, you're choosing this action when I have specifically told you not to choose it. So there is a spirit of rebellion in you. So are you going to choose this or are you choosing me? And there will actually come a crossroads where the Lord will say, Okay, choose. I present to you life and death. Choose. And the scripture says I think it's in Romans chapter 2. He says he gives them over to a reprobate mind. He gives them over to a reprobate because they choose to worship the creation over the creator. What does that mean? In other words, they have the sinning has been has become such a pattern. Consequence, guys, the sinning, what it does not matter what it is, but the sinning has become such a pattern that they have actually become to be they have actually become to be to depend on what that sin gives them. The feelings that sin gives them, the the the highs that that sin gives them, and they have stopped struggling, they have actually embraced it full full throttle. And that and that God gives them over to reprobate mind, and they actually start worshiping or depending on the sin and not depending on God. And they actually start moving away from God to the point where they even will even say, I denounce you, I remove myself from you, I choose to go this direction. Right? Are you with me? And again, that's not a punishment from God, it's a consequence of sin. Okay, so let's look, let's go back to the the forgiveness piece because we're getting close to the end of our time. Let's go to the forgiveness piece, okay? Again, not all things, all things are permissible, not all things are are beneficial. In the book of Matthew, Jesus says this forgive not lest your father in heaven not forgive you. I hope I have handled this. I hope I have healed this from last episode. If you hear somebody teach on this and they say that if you don't forgive others, if you're not forgotten, your God, your God in heaven, your father in heaven will not forgive you. If you hear that, run away. Either run away or at least ignore it. Do not adopt it. Because I've shown you in two other instances in the New Testament where Paul says, forgive others like Jesus has forgiven you. In other words, we are responding, our actions are a response to what Jesus has done for us, in us, and through us, right? Okay, but what are the consequences of not forgiving? Because that's what I said. I said, you don't have to forgive. But yet God still commands it. Right? And if the and if there's no punishment, in other words, in other words, God's still going to forgive you whether you forgive or not, there's no punishment, but there's still a consequence. What's the consequence? Because again, God still commands you to forgive others. Right? There's no punishment, but there is a consequence. What's the consequence? In Galatians chapter 5, verse 6, it says, faith works by love. Now, what's faith again? Faith is our response to what Jesus has done. Here's another definition it is how we receive from him. Grace gives, faith receives what grace has given. So our actions, what we do, really Receives from God what He has done. Okay? So salvation. By grace are you saved through faith? Is not the gift of God. I mean, it's not is not by works, lest any man should boast, but it is the gift of God, right? Okay, so when you heard the gospel message, you were you you were probably asked to uh pray a prayer of salvation, right? Pray a prayer. The key thing is that you basically spoke, you said these words of some flavor. You said that Jesus is Lord, I believe that He rose again for He wrote He died for my sins, rose again on the third day. He is sitting on high, interceding on my behalf, and He is helping me to live the life in which He wants me to live. He is my Savior, but I now commit Him as my Lord. Something like that. Okay? Why did you say that? Because you believed it. Why did you believe it? Because you heard the gospel and it registered with you. So, so what was the what was the grace? The grace was saving you. You heard that God saved you through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, right? What was your response to obtain that salvation? You spoke. You responded to it through faith because you have no tangible evidence, you have nothing, you did not see Jesus and Jesus stand before you and say, I have crucified. You have no tangible evidence. All you did was you heard the gospel, it registered with you, and you responded. That is literally a decent, simple blueprint of those who walk in faith. We hear the word of the Lord, we do it, we do it, we respond to it, and that is actions of faith. That is how we receive from the Lord. That's how you receive finances, that's how you receive healing, that's how you receive peace of mind. Everything that we receive from the covenant, everything that we receive from Christ, we do it through faith. Right? But notice faith works by love. Okay? Faith works by love. So that's two points. There's the love that someone gives you, but then there's also the love that you give others. Right? Faith works by love. Well, what's the love piece? God loves you. And I always pray over people that are struggling through scenarios. If you're struggling to obey God in an area, it's because you're struggling to understand how much he loves you in that area. Because if you knew how much he loves you in that area, you would do everything he requires in that area. Right? It's literally that simple. If we are struggling to pay, if we're struggling to give a thousand dollars because it's our last thousand dollars, if we're struggling to do it because the Lord has instructed us to do it, it's because we we do not have a revelation of how much he loves us in that area, in the area of finances. Okay, that's another teaching. Okay? So if God commands us to forgive, but you're struggling to forgive, you have struggled, you are struggling to believe how much God loves you, how much God has already forgiven you. Right? He's told you forgive that woman, he's told you to forgive that man, and you're struggling to do it. Okay, and it's justifiable. I don't know what the person has done, I don't know what they have done, but God commands you to love, to forgive, and you're struggling to forgive because you do not have a revelation of how much he has already forgiven you. Right? And so there's that end of the spectrum, and then here's the other end of the spectrum. You're struggling to love that person because of what they've done. It makes sense. It totally is. There's no judgment, there's no criticism here, okay? But God still commands us to love. So how do we end up loving people who are not who are unlovable? Right? We learn how much God loves us. We love because he first loved us. Right? Right? But what are the consequences? We will not be able to receive from him. Look at what it says in Mark 11, 23-25. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he says. Therefore I say unto you, what things soever you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you shall have them. So this is a main, this is a portion of scripture that talks about faith. I'll go into greater detail about this later on. But notice what is being said, what is being coupled with faith here. And when you stand praying, forgive. If you have outs against any, that your father also which is in heaven may forgive you of your trespasses. Okay? Now again, we have to look at this through New Testament lenses. God has already forgiven you, but notice that forgiveness is still connected to faith. God is still requiring us to forgive. Why? Because faith works by love. Your ability to receive from God depends on how much you know he loves you and how much you love him. They work together. Because if you don't love him, it's because you don't know how much he loves you. It all goes back to him. But you will not be able to receive from him, you will not be able to do what he needs you to do to posture yourself, to position yourself, to do, to get you into the environment that he needs you so that you can blossom. You will not be able to live the Christian life effectively if you can't walk by faith. And you will not be able to walk by faith if you can if you cannot forgive. Why? Because faith forgiveness requires love and faith walks by love. You see my point. So again, God's not punishing us, but there are still consequences, even spiritual ones. There are spiritual consequences to our disobedience and us not doing what God asked us to do. And and I pose this question is it possible that we're struggling in life not because of the punishment, but because of the consequences? Right? Right? I mean, look at the story of uh of Daniel and the three Hebrew children, uh Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were uh they were captured, put in put in Babylon, everyone was be was eating the what the Babylonian food, and Daniel says, That is against our covenant. We are not allowed to do this, but let me test you and let me challenge you. Let us eat what we're supposed to eat, and I assure you, our bodies, our looks, everything about us would be ten times better. And they and and the the person that was over them agreed. And after a time of eating, they noticed that the that the diet that the Hebrews ate made them look better, it made them look healthier, they were responding better. What's the point? Are you saying that there was a spiritual blessing attached to it? Most likely. But the fact of the matter is, God is not just saying, hey, do not eat this because I don't want you to eat it. No, he's saying, do not eat this because I know there's not health benefits to it, I know there's sicknesses that are attached to it, I know there's diseases attached to it. Sometimes, guys, the commandments that God gives us are not just to rob us of things, but to liberate us into a new way of living that's that's successful, beneficial, valuable, fruitful. He doesn't tell you no because he hates you, he tells you no because he loves you. Right? So again, I hope I have I hope I've I've I've settled this issue. God's not punishing you. He's not hating you, he's not displeased with you. If he tells you to do something, he knows your response before he even tells you to do it. He I mean, he's Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He's omnipotent, he knows everything. He's omnipresent, he's everywhere, he knows everything. Right? So he's not surprised when you're struggling with a commandment. He's not surprised when you're struggling when with a situation that he tells you to do. He's not. Okay? But but rest assured, he's not punishing you for it. Okay? But there are consequences to disobedience. Right? There are consequences to it. So I hope that this has been helpful to you, that some things have become uh become more clear that God is not punishing you, but there are consequences that are a result of our own actions. And um, I can't wait to continue with this concept of that we are responders, not initiators, in the next episode. So I hope you have the bet good rest of your day or a good night. God bless.