WEBVTT 00:00:02.459 --> 00:03:39.539 Introduction Welcome to this journey on the road, the road of faith. 00:03:39.540 --> 00:03:44.909 As we go from Paul's letter to the Romans to the gospel, what does the gospel mean? 00:03:44.911 --> 00:03:45.900 Who is it for? 00:03:46.020 --> 00:03:48.300 How does it impact our everyday lives? 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:50.039 This is the road. 00:03:50.729 --> 00:03:55.740 And as you've been traveling the road, we've noticed these markers that help us see the path ahead. 00:03:55.741 --> 00:04:03.270 What does it mean to go from a place of, of not being a child of God, to being a place where you are a child of God and how does it all work? 00:04:03.270 --> 00:04:11.460 And the idea is, is that if we can understand it clearly, then we can share it clearly with people who need to hear. 00:04:11.461 --> 00:04:13.889 This is the road of faith. 00:04:13.979 --> 00:04:27.660 So marker number one that we saw on this road was that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 00:04:27.660 --> 00:04:31.680 That's Romans three 23 in other words, like none of us have our act together. 00:04:31.769 --> 00:04:34.829 It doesn't matter how good you think you are, it doesn't matter what your heritage is. 00:04:34.850 --> 00:04:36.000 Doesn't matter any of that. 00:04:36.089 --> 00:04:39.089 All of us fall short of the glory of God. 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:43.439 We have this sin problem that messes everything up. 00:04:43.470 --> 00:04:50.519 Then the next marker on the road is for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. 00:04:50.521 --> 00:04:59.250 Romans six 23 it shows us what's the penalty of that sin of that falling short, but what is the gift that God offers? 00:04:59.250 --> 00:05:06.300 Marker number three but God demonstrates his own love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:13.110 He didn't die for us to make a way after we figured everything out and got our act together, which should be a huge relief. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:14.610 I know, I know. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:15.839 I know you guys got your act together. 00:05:15.841 --> 00:05:20.930 I'm just saying it's a huge relief to me, but that's not what it means. 00:05:20.930 --> 00:05:31.160 It means that before we could ever utter a word, before we even knew that God existed, he had already laid down his life for us while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 00:05:31.339 --> 00:05:33.860 Marker number four, we talked about last week. 00:05:36.060 --> 00:05:37.259 How do you do it? 00:05:37.290 --> 00:05:41.339 What's the mechanism by which you get right with God? 00:05:41.579 --> 00:05:43.439 How does that actually happen? 00:05:44.670 --> 00:05:47.250 We said it's very simple, but it's not simplistic. 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:56.160 If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 00:05:57.160 --> 00:06:01.560 And this should be a huge comfort to everyone. 00:06:01.769 --> 00:06:09.850 Cause what I find, I have a lot of people come to me all the time and one of the most popular questions that I get asked is, how do I know that I'm safe? 00:06:10.569 --> 00:06:15.069 Like I don't know I've been going to church my whole life or I, I'm not sure. 00:06:15.071 --> 00:06:21.699 Like I gave my life to Jesus many years ago, but I've maybe made a few mistakes since then. 00:06:22.329 --> 00:06:22.720 I don't know. 00:06:22.721 --> 00:06:23.560 Am I still in? 00:06:23.769 --> 00:06:24.399 How do I know? 00:06:25.661 --> 00:06:28.300 This is the comfort. 00:06:30.629 --> 00:06:31.560 Here's what Paul's saying. 00:06:32.730 --> 00:06:36.629 If you believe it and you say it, that's it. 00:06:37.980 --> 00:06:38.670 You are in. 00:06:40.029 --> 00:06:42.459 You're a what Jesus describes as being born again. 00:06:42.461 --> 00:06:48.009 I know that term has so much baggage in our culture, but literally you are changed from the inside out. 00:06:53.490 --> 00:06:59.160 Paul believed, this is all Paul's explanation of trying to explain why the old Testament law did it work. 00:06:59.339 --> 00:07:05.129 It didn't accomplish all the things that Jesus did because it wasn't set up to succeed in that way. 00:07:05.370 --> 00:07:06.870 It's not what the law was for. 00:07:07.050 --> 00:07:09.899 The reason is you can't just obey- as human beings. 00:07:09.901 --> 00:07:16.110 We can't just obey and then we'll be perfectly good because of sin, right? 00:07:16.110 --> 00:07:19.079 He said, he said there, there's a problem. 00:07:19.319 --> 00:07:21.899 Now the Pharisees believed that problem was our behavior. 00:07:22.370 --> 00:07:24.720 You know, like kids in the classroom, you just clean up the behavior. 00:07:24.870 --> 00:07:25.470 We'll all be good. 00:07:26.829 --> 00:07:32.980 So okay, clean up your behavior, follow God's law and you'll be good. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:39.100 But the problem is, and this is what Paul's getting at, it says sin is a much deeper problem than behavior. 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:41.680 Sin goes way deeper than that. 00:07:41.829 --> 00:07:47.019 Sin has corrupted the whole thing, like a few drops of ink and a pitcher of water. 00:07:47.050 --> 00:07:49.600 It corrupts the whole pitcher. 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:57.160 That sends a much bigger problem than you ever realized and God's grace is so much better than you've ever thought. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:02.470 So speaking of sin, I was in a fraternity. 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:12.269 I was at one point vice president in my fraternity. 00:08:13.110 --> 00:08:24.360 I was also at one point that chaplain of the fraternity, who for the first time actually read scripture as chaplain of the fraternity, it was, it was a wild time, those those years of college. 00:08:24.389 --> 00:08:34.629 And my question was, what does- if it's not about what we do that makes us right with God about what God does? 00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:37.960 Well, why does it still matter what I do? 00:08:39.940 --> 00:08:46.570 And I learned the answer to this question in college because that's when I came to faith in Jesus was in college. 00:08:46.571 --> 00:08:49.659 So freshman year I joined a fraternity. 00:08:50.200 --> 00:08:53.049 I was known to be a certain Jason Tucker. 00:08:54.460 --> 00:08:56.480 That was the Christian Jason Tucker. 00:08:56.509 --> 00:08:56.990 Then. 00:08:57.529 --> 00:08:59.539 Then I went off to summer camp. 00:08:59.570 --> 00:09:05.330 I had this experience of faith that changed my life and I went back and actually I wasn't sure if I was going to go back. 00:09:05.330 --> 00:09:07.220 I thought about transferring to a Christian school. 00:09:07.221 --> 00:09:10.129 I thought about lots of things about leaving the fraternity. 00:09:10.190 --> 00:09:15.799 I thought about all that, but I felt like God was telling me to stay where I was planted. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:24.230 So in my fraternity though, I was trying to figure out how do I live as a Christian, as a, as a frat guy, like how does that happen? 00:09:24.740 --> 00:09:27.649 How can we have like a major party? 00:09:29.210 --> 00:09:37.370 We're all sorts of behavior problems are happening and still maintain my faith. 00:09:37.370 --> 00:09:41.179 That's why like, Oh my gosh, my heart is for Christian college kids. 00:09:41.419 --> 00:09:42.470 I love you so much. 00:09:42.500 --> 00:09:43.519 I know your pain. 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:44.929 I pray for you. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:47.179 I just, it's so hard. 00:09:47.181 --> 00:09:52.730 So I go back and I'm in my fraternity and I decided, so, okay, I live in the house. 00:09:52.850 --> 00:09:54.049 We're going to have a big party. 00:09:54.679 --> 00:09:55.399 What do I do? 00:09:56.360 --> 00:10:03.289 Well, I could not attend the parties cause he's, I don't even get to go into my own room and I go offsite somewhere else. 00:10:03.769 --> 00:10:04.669 What do I stay in a hotel? 00:10:04.671 --> 00:10:06.289 Do I stay with a friend? 00:10:06.291 --> 00:10:06.889 I don't know. 00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:16.519 And, but again, I felt like if I wasn't at the party, I had no opportunity to make a difference. 00:10:16.669 --> 00:10:17.899 And that's different for all of us. 00:10:17.900 --> 00:10:19.399 We have in different situations. 00:10:19.400 --> 00:10:23.149 But for me, in that situation, it was, I felt like I needed to find a way to be there. 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:28.399 So this isn't an actual picture of my room, but it tried to capture what my room was like. 00:10:29.029 --> 00:10:42.590 I actually, in a spirit of ministry, I wanted to create an environment where people at the party can come and talk about faith. 00:10:42.980 --> 00:10:43.879 I'll say, well, how do I do that? 00:10:44.570 --> 00:10:47.720 Well, first of all, listen, when people start drinking, they want to talk about God. 00:10:48.409 --> 00:10:49.100 I don't know why. 00:10:49.429 --> 00:10:50.450 That's just what happens. 00:10:50.870 --> 00:10:52.549 And the more they drink, the deeper they get. 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:54.860 I mean, they hit a tipping point and then it's over. 00:10:54.860 --> 00:11:00.440 But, but people get super deep when it went and they want to talk about God. 00:11:00.529 --> 00:11:03.830 And so I'm like, okay, I'm going to create this conversation area. 00:11:04.190 --> 00:11:15.500 I actually had a maintenance pull out my bed and I had a bunch of couches put in my room to make a place where we could just hang out. 00:11:15.500 --> 00:11:17.389 And I did have, I had Christmas lights. 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:21.740 I was like trying to do things that like, you know, made it look kind of warm, like a cool environment. 00:11:22.820 --> 00:11:32.809 And then I had from a flea market, I had a framed, print of just a piece of paper that said, I am the way, the truth and the life. 00:11:33.649 --> 00:11:40.730 And I hung it in such a way that if you were going down the hallway and pass my room and I left my door open, you would see bam. 00:11:41.330 --> 00:11:43.669 I'm the way, the truth and the life when people were walking by. 00:11:44.629 --> 00:11:52.490 So incidentally, this is how I knew, like I was a pastor before I ever was trained to be a pastor. 00:11:53.909 --> 00:11:58.649 God wires us a certain way before we ever kind of reached that goal. 00:11:58.650 --> 00:12:01.049 We've been hardwired to be with certain gifts. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:16.559 I didn't know it at the time, but this was my pastor's heart that was really dying to connect with people and share the gospel where they were at the party in the midst of the craziness and I had no idea how it was going to work. 00:12:16.620 --> 00:12:17.789 I just, I prayed a lot. 00:12:17.820 --> 00:12:20.070 I was super nervous and I'm like, Oh, what do I do? 00:12:20.250 --> 00:12:24.149 Everybody's carrying around their red cups and one's got their red cups. 00:12:24.629 --> 00:12:25.379 What do I do? 00:12:25.380 --> 00:12:31.889 Well, I'm just going to have like a diet Coke can and I know, listen, I know you could like swap it out, whatever, but this was my solution. 00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:44.940 I'd have the diet Coke so sure enough the parties get going and every night and it would happen around the same time, like 12:30 AM. 00:12:45.870 --> 00:12:47.820 That was kind of like the beginning of the magic time. 00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:52.769 If we got to 2:30 AM it was nothing was good, nothing happened good. 00:12:53.610 --> 00:12:55.649 It was just like, can I please help you home? 00:12:57.450 --> 00:13:03.029 But what would happen is then people start coming in, they'd see the thing on the wall and like some people would do that. 00:13:05.580 --> 00:13:16.440 whatever, man, you know, and, but you had some who'd like to sit there like stare at it transfixed, you know, other people that would look at it and I would just be hanging out, Hey, what's up man? 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:17.909 Oh Hey. 00:13:18.480 --> 00:13:36.919 It would lead to this conversation where I'd invite him in and we talk and I can't tell you how many people, how many of these kids who had real reputations based on their behavior in college, who would just come in and just be crying. 00:13:36.921 --> 00:13:37.399 Just, yeah. 00:13:37.429 --> 00:13:39.889 I used to be a youth group kid. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:49.580 and you know, I, I don't know, I'm kind of lost feeling it and I'm not saying that everybody decided to like turn their life around. 00:13:50.539 --> 00:13:59.169 in fact, sometimes people will come in and they, t he reputation precedes them through the door and t here's like, Oh yeah, I'm Christian. 00:13:59.610 --> 00:14:00.279 O h yeah, that's great. 00:14:00.280 --> 00:14:00.580 That's great. 00:14:00.581 --> 00:14:01.690 You have that sign out there. 00:14:02.649 --> 00:14:04.000 I kept thinking, I'm like, what? 00:14:07.570 --> 00:14:19.659 But see this, this whole experience in college, it made me think about something because truly if this was about grace, did behaviors still play a role? 00:14:19.660 --> 00:14:23.799 Why did I feel compelled to show that I wasn't drinking at the party? 00:14:24.370 --> 00:14:27.129 Why did I feel like I had to act differently? 00:14:27.730 --> 00:14:34.539 I know it's not because of what I do that I'm saved, but there's something else that behavior seems to matter. 00:14:35.649 --> 00:14:37.299 Like does it matter the way I live my life? 00:14:37.330 --> 00:14:38.169 It feels like. 00:14:38.171 --> 00:14:38.679 Yes. 00:14:38.889 --> 00:14:42.370 And so where I want to go next with this, and this is where Paul goes next, is why? 00:14:42.610 --> 00:14:49.210 Why does the way we live our life matter on the other side of salvation, you put your faith in Jesus. 00:14:49.211 --> 00:14:50.980 Okay, what happens the rest of the way? 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:55.840 And that's what we're talking about today. 00:14:55.870 --> 00:14:59.230 What role does behavior play in the Christian life? 00:14:59.409 --> 00:15:00.190 So let's jump in. 00:15:00.191 --> 00:15:01.210 Let's jump into Romans today. 00:15:01.211 --> 00:15:18.350 Romans chapter eight therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus, the law of the spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 00:15:18.830 --> 00:15:19.100 Okay. 00:15:19.100 --> 00:15:19.970 What's he talking about? 00:15:20.990 --> 00:15:23.320 The law of sin and death and the law of the spirit. 00:15:23.321 --> 00:15:24.919 You see, he's doing a rhetorical thing here. 00:15:24.921 --> 00:15:27.289 He's trying to compare and contrast two different ideas. 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:35.120 The law of sin and death he's talking about is the old Testament law, but don't misconstrue that. 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:39.590 It doesn't mean that he thinks that law is bad, that that's the law of sin and death. 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:41.269 He actually thinks the law is good. 00:15:41.270 --> 00:15:42.440 The old Testament is good. 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:51.889 What he's saying is if we have nothing but trying to live by that law, we are condemned as sin and death because we can't possibly live up to it. 00:15:53.389 --> 00:15:56.720 We can't be as perfect as the law demands. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:15:58.730 So that's the loss and the death. 00:15:58.730 --> 00:16:04.309 So he's trying to compare and contrast all those 613 commandments of the old Testament. 00:16:04.311 --> 00:16:11.659 All those rabbinic interpretations with something that he's calling the law of the spirit, which is the gospel of Jesus. 00:16:12.350 --> 00:16:16.009 The Holy Spirit's the one who fulfills our obedience to the law. 00:16:16.610 --> 00:16:18.740 Therefore it becomes the law of life. 00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:23.539 So he's trying to compare and contrast to because they understood the language of the law. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:33.830 And remember Paul sees what happens in Jesus as something that's like legal that happens in a courtroom that we were once condemned and now we're not because of what Jesus did. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:38.450 All right, let's keep going. 00:16:38.779 --> 00:16:52.519 Verse three for what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin. 00:16:55.259 --> 00:17:06.569 And so he condemn sin in the flesh in order that the righteousness requirement of the law might be fully met in us who do not live according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. 00:17:06.570 --> 00:17:07.559 So you see where he's going. 00:17:07.560 --> 00:17:15.119 He's trying to explain how if all you did was follow the old law, the old Testament, it would never take you where you needed to go. 00:17:16.049 --> 00:17:17.730 God needed to intervene. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:21.630 God needed to do the fulfillment of the law for us. 00:17:22.410 --> 00:17:26.400 And so that's why we absolutely need Jesus to get where we want to go. 00:17:26.401 --> 00:17:36.519 And that is where life and peace, those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires. 00:17:37.509 --> 00:17:41.920 But those who live in accordance with the spirit have their minds set on what the spirit desires. 00:17:42.220 --> 00:17:43.329 Do you see that shift there? 00:17:43.330 --> 00:17:48.490 So now he's talking about like what happened in us based talking about how to live. 00:17:50.200 --> 00:17:51.759 So keep in mind, focus on the flesh. 00:17:51.789 --> 00:17:53.710 It's going to be chasing after flesh stuff. 00:17:54.220 --> 00:17:56.859 Every mind focused on the spirits will be chasing after God stuff. 00:17:59.660 --> 00:18:00.539 I like that translation. 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:05.269 I should actually do a whole whole Bible translation like that and then stuff happened. 00:18:08.119 --> 00:18:09.000 That'd be terrible. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:20.500 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the spirit is life and peace. 00:18:22.430 --> 00:18:27.769 Here we start getting at the why behind why our behavior matters. 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:30.980 It's not because God's waiting to put us in the penalty box. 00:18:32.180 --> 00:18:36.740 It's because if we live a certain way, it's going to lead to things that hurt us. 00:18:36.740 --> 00:18:37.700 It's gonna lead to death. 00:18:38.509 --> 00:18:44.059 I can't tell you how many of my college friends from my fraternity more than, wow. 00:18:44.060 --> 00:18:51.839 Probably a shocking number of my close friends struggled with alcoholism because of the habits that they formed in college. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:19:04.390 They would tell you every day of the week that was leading to death, what they thought they could control, they discovered had enslaved them. 00:19:07.869 --> 00:19:11.019 That's why God cares about how he behave because of what it does to us. 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:17.880 He wants us to live by the spirit so that we experience life and peace. 00:19:17.881 --> 00:19:18.809 That's the whole point. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:25.349 He wants our life now to be like a, like an appetizer of what's to come. 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:28.410 Like this is going to be so great. 00:19:28.411 --> 00:19:29.700 You don't want to miss this. 00:19:29.849 --> 00:19:32.490 You're going to experience life and peace forever and guess what? 00:19:32.519 --> 00:19:34.829 You could experience that life in peace right now. 00:19:36.930 --> 00:19:49.799 If you have your mind set on the spirit, the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God. 00:19:49.859 --> 00:19:52.769 It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:56.369 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:00.990 You however, are not in the realm of the flesh, but are in the realm of the spirit. 00:20:00.990 --> 00:20:07.049 If indeed the spirit of God lives in you and if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:15.059 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the spirit gives life because of righteousness. 00:20:17.190 --> 00:20:23.880 I think there are two common Christian responses to Christian behavior, right? 00:20:23.881 --> 00:20:25.440 So how do I live as a Christian? 00:20:25.441 --> 00:20:33.900 I think there are two kind of like opposite extremes and I kinda liken it to health, you know like how does it matter how I live? 00:20:33.901 --> 00:20:36.480 Well kind of like let's take the idea of getting healthy. 00:20:37.769 --> 00:20:44.069 So the first way that people think of Christian behavior is, is the way that it's kind of like the super bowl today. 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:48.359 I'm going to eat whatever I want and then diet starts on Monday. 00:20:51.230 --> 00:20:52.849 I think there's a version of this. 00:20:52.851 --> 00:20:54.410 It's like our Christian behavior. 00:20:54.559 --> 00:20:59.869 I'm going to do whatever I want now and then some day down the road I'll start the diet. 00:20:59.900 --> 00:21:03.619 Like I'll start living the way that I know is going to make me healthy. 00:21:03.980 --> 00:21:09.680 But for now, I just want to kind of do my own thing and listen, that's just not college students. 00:21:09.681 --> 00:21:10.329 I mean that's it. 00:21:10.369 --> 00:21:11.380 We're all like that, right? 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:17.480 I just want to do what I want, what I want to do, and then later on I'll kind of get it together. 00:21:18.109 --> 00:21:24.349 It's sort of like, well if I'm forgiven anyway, what does it matter? 00:21:26.859 --> 00:21:27.670 That's one version. 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:31.839 The other version would be the person who's like, okay, I'm going to get healthy. 00:21:32.109 --> 00:21:36.670 I'm going to measure my food, count my steps and look down on anyone else who's not doing that. 00:21:37.930 --> 00:21:40.180 Like I'm going to be super focused. 00:21:40.181 --> 00:21:46.869 I'm going to have all of these regimens and, and if, if you're not doing these things, shame on you, you're not getting healthy. 00:21:47.230 --> 00:21:50.500 This is like the legalist version of Christian behavior. 00:21:50.500 --> 00:21:55.450 Like if you're not doing it exactly the way that I'm doing it, then you're doing it wrong. 00:21:57.460 --> 00:22:03.849 And it's this version of Christianity is a, is a big reason why many people in our community are not sitting right next to you right now. 00:22:06.049 --> 00:22:10.670 It's cause they had experience of that kind of Christian faith where you can do this. 00:22:10.671 --> 00:22:11.329 You can't do that. 00:22:11.330 --> 00:22:11.859 You can't do it. 00:22:12.049 --> 00:22:15.809 It's the behavior police you're in, you're out. 00:22:16.589 --> 00:22:16.890 Wait, wait. 00:22:16.891 --> 00:22:30.089 Are we talking about, I said to you, this is a huge, huge issue and something that you see that you see the, why many Christians fall into this. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:36.750 It's easy to fall into this because you feel like your behavior should count- Maybe you shouldn't be the one drinking at the party. 00:22:38.630 --> 00:22:43.130 And so when you see somebody else making a different decision, you're just like, Oh no, that, no, that's out of bounds. 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:43.940 That's not what God wants. 00:22:43.941 --> 00:22:45.769 Well, not what God wants for you. 00:22:48.299 --> 00:22:53.490 Maybe it's not what God wants for them either, but you can't just be like you're doing it wrong. 00:22:55.690 --> 00:23:04.059 Early on in my faith, I had, I had a decent number of Christians like this speaking into my life and I got to tell you, did some damage, did some damage. 00:23:04.079 --> 00:23:12.069 I, the reason why is because I felt like I could never do enough to please God that I was always letting God down. 00:23:13.420 --> 00:23:15.130 And that's not a healthy place to be. 00:23:15.131 --> 00:23:23.230 And then I had a bad father relationship where my father was never pleased with what I did, and I was like transferring that onto God. 00:23:23.230 --> 00:23:24.519 That happens a lot with our parents. 00:23:24.520 --> 00:23:29.470 We transfer onto God and it took a while to unwind all that stuff. 00:23:30.250 --> 00:23:33.490 And I still have to catch myself thinking that way. 00:23:38.789 --> 00:23:43.259 These are two kind of common ways of thinking about Christian behavior. 00:23:45.420 --> 00:23:54.539 It's, it's either go to the party and join them with your red cup, and who cares? 00:23:54.540 --> 00:23:58.859 You know, you're with them or go around and tell everybody why they shouldn't be at the party. 00:24:02.430 --> 00:24:03.690 There's gotta be a third way. 00:24:03.691 --> 00:24:07.619 And I think it's that third way that Paul gets to here. 00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:14.069 Let's jump to verse 12 therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation. 00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:17.759 Well, okay, so what's the therefore he's talking about. 00:24:17.760 --> 00:24:20.940 Well, he just said now there's no condemnation in Jesus Christ. 00:24:21.089 --> 00:24:24.369 Therefore we have an obligation. 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:29.019 You're not condemned by God, therefore it's the therefore that makes the difference. 00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:34.869 You have been saved by God's grace, therefore your life should reflect that in some way. 00:24:36.130 --> 00:24:41.859 Therefore, we do have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh to live according to it. 00:24:42.039 --> 00:24:54.069 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live for those who are led by the spirit of God are the children of God. 00:24:54.930 --> 00:24:56.200 All right, keep your hats on for this one. 00:24:57.309 --> 00:24:58.000 This is awesome. 00:24:59.000 --> 00:25:19.230 This spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again, rather the spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship and by him we cry Abba father an Aramaic term for father, very intimate that Jesus used to talk about his heavenly father. 00:25:19.230 --> 00:25:23.970 He says, we all have that intimacy with God to cry out Abba father. 00:25:25.769 --> 00:25:29.640 The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 00:25:30.329 --> 00:25:35.099 Now, if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and co heirs with Christ. 00:25:36.740 --> 00:25:42.200 If indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 00:25:43.099 --> 00:25:47.990 In other words, the reason why our behavior matters is because we have been changed. 00:25:48.650 --> 00:25:50.390 We now have been adopted by God. 00:25:50.391 --> 00:25:51.740 I love the idea of adoption. 00:25:52.190 --> 00:25:53.180 What is adoption? 00:25:53.210 --> 00:26:04.849 Adoption is a legal transaction based on a relationship of love because of God's great love for us and what he did in Jesus. 00:26:05.930 --> 00:26:10.700 We are our status changes in the eyes of the law. 00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:14.480 We are no longer foreigners to God. 00:26:14.930 --> 00:26:16.670 We are no longer stuck in sin. 00:26:16.910 --> 00:26:24.680 We are actually made to be his children, co heirs with the son who was righteous from the beginning. 00:26:25.430 --> 00:26:38.519 We all share the inheritance of eternal life forever because we have been adopted and therefore as children, our behavior matters. 00:26:41.319 --> 00:26:44.619 We don't, we don't care about how we live. 00:26:47.940 --> 00:26:54.930 because we're trying to follow like a set of behavioral rules per se. 00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:06.309 Our behavior isn't the reason God loves us in the first place, but as God's children. 00:27:06.310 --> 00:27:09.849 We behave to show our love and respect for the father. 00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:12.730 After all, we represent the family name. 00:27:16.170 --> 00:27:17.009 Think about this way. 00:27:18.930 --> 00:27:23.759 I want you to get in your head, a boss that you really love to work. 00:27:23.760 --> 00:27:25.470 How many of you love working for your boss? 00:27:25.471 --> 00:27:27.000 Everyone on church staff, raise your hand right now. 00:27:27.299 --> 00:27:32.549 Thank you and I love working for it. 00:27:32.700 --> 00:27:36.089 No, but think about in your head like this boss that you loved working for. 00:27:36.090 --> 00:27:36.599 Okay? 00:27:37.950 --> 00:27:44.970 Now I want you to think about a boss that you absolutely couldn't stand, that you hated working for. 00:27:46.269 --> 00:27:57.039 I'm not g oing t o ask you to raise your h ands under which boss did you perform better under which boss were you happier under? 00:27:57.040 --> 00:28:01.309 Which boss d id you get the best version of you, r ight? 00:28:01.579 --> 00:28:02.089 Right. 00:28:02.569 --> 00:28:03.589 The one that you love. 00:28:03.590 --> 00:28:04.460 You want to please t hem. 00:28:04.461 --> 00:28:06.500 You want to do well, you are inspired. 00:28:06.529 --> 00:28:08.420 You are a better version of yourself. 00:28:08.519 --> 00:28:09.470 Now t hink about it this way. 00:28:10.789 --> 00:28:20.660 If you are living with God as your father with God is the one that you're trying to please because you love them, you're g oing t o get the best version of you. 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:24.740 It's going to be the best you possible. 00:28:24.740 --> 00:28:25.849 You're going to be more productive. 00:28:25.851 --> 00:28:27.140 You're going to be better. 00:28:27.529 --> 00:28:31.609 You're going to be living out the life of faith better because it's out of love. 00:28:31.611 --> 00:28:33.740 That's why Christian behavior matters. 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:35.720 It does matter. 00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:40.859 It does matter, but it matters because you are representing Jesus. 00:28:40.861 --> 00:28:42.809 Everywhere you go in the world is watching. 00:28:44.029 --> 00:28:49.519 Believe me, the world is watching how many pastors have to do something stupid and fall in sin? 00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:57.180 How many so-called Christians have to do something horrible in the name of Jesus? 00:28:59.369 --> 00:29:05.490 All it's doing, it's pushing the world away from, from the hope that will give them life. 00:29:08.019 --> 00:29:09.549 That's why behavior matters. 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:16.150 We want to represent the father well so that our lives show glory to him. 00:29:17.609 --> 00:29:18.750 That's why it matters. 00:29:20.720 --> 00:29:23.019 It's not because God wants something from us. 00:29:23.049 --> 00:29:24.829 Just to kill our good time up. 00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:25.750 Don't go to the party. 00:29:27.779 --> 00:29:30.710 No, he wants something for us. 00:29:30.711 --> 00:29:32.509 He wants that life in peace. 00:29:33.589 --> 00:29:34.670 Otherwise, what are we all doing? 00:29:35.069 --> 00:29:36.529 If this is all big drag? 00:29:42.250 --> 00:29:46.700 So marker number five on our road, it's two fold. 00:29:48.049 --> 00:30:24.559 Romans eight one therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and then verse 12 therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation to live according to the spirit and I think for all of us, whether you feel like you have a pastor's heart or maybe you have a heart for hospitality or you have a heart for service or a heart for whatever your heart is, God wants to use that in the midst of the party to share his good news with the world dying to hear it. 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:28.190 What is your personal ministry? 00:30:28.349 --> 00:30:37.890 Where is your area that you could bring that better version of you into the midst of the frat house? 00:30:41.299 --> 00:30:51.049 Well, I think if we're going by that health analogy, may be a way to start would be to say this, so it's not that it's not the, I'm going to start my diet on Monday way of thinking. 00:30:51.050 --> 00:31:04.000 It's not the you ought to do what I'm doing, thinking maybe it's the, I'll ask the doctor what makes me healthy and encourage everyone else to go see the doctor, have a relationship with Jesus. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:09.569 Let the spirit speak to you about what you need to do, and it doesn't mean there's no accountability. 00:31:09.570 --> 00:31:14.609 Of course, we should be encouraging each other and be like, Hey dude, like what you're doing. 00:31:14.611 --> 00:31:18.779 Like every once in a while it's like, it's not about behavior, but sometimes meeting people that'd be like, that's really dumb. 00:31:21.410 --> 00:31:30.779 That doesn't seem to be reflecting Jesus, but I think it starts with, Hey, listen, I'm going to go to the doctor and he's been telling me how to make me healthy and I encourage you to do