SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: Morning, Second Service.
SPEAKER_01: A few words of encouragement.
SPEAKER_01: I uh went uh finished up early with the first service, but I will not make that second, that mistake a second time.
SPEAKER_01: So take heart.
SPEAKER_01: Um there are only 75 days till Christmas and 81 till the new year, so lots of encouragement here this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Please open open to Titus chapter 2 is where we're going to be.
SPEAKER_01: My name is Jeremy.
SPEAKER_01: I'm the student and family pastor here at Faith.
SPEAKER_01: I work with a wonderful group of uh both staff and volunteers to minister to the children here at this church.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I also uh am involved in the um shepherding of families here, and what a privilege that is.
SPEAKER_01: Um I love our church.
SPEAKER_01: This is this is something I was reflecting on with my wife last night, and actually find myself reflecting on more and more that God has doing great things at this church, and I am growing more and more appreciative of his people here at faith.
SPEAKER_01: And so it's a joy to be able to open up the word with you this morning.
SPEAKER_01: And as you're finding your place in Titus, I want to pose the question that I hope will shape our thinking, give us some clarity for the direction of where we're going this morning, and that question is who do you think you are?
SPEAKER_01: I I don't mean that in like a condescending way.
SPEAKER_01: It's not the kind of question like when your child says they would prefer pizza because they don't like your cooking, or when you have a car full of side seat and back seat drivers who are critiquing your driving skills and ability.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's not that kind of who do you think you are.
SPEAKER_01: This is a question of identity.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to reflect on who you believe yourself to be.
SPEAKER_01: Because who you believe yourself to be shapes and forms not just how you think, not just what you want, but also what you do.
SPEAKER_01: Who you believe yourself to be forms the actions that live itself out in your life.
SPEAKER_01: Our actions flow out of identity.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us might identify ourselves as parents.
SPEAKER_01: And so our identity is wrapped up perhaps in our children, our duties as parents, our thinking and tasks, and everything that we we form our lives around has to do with you being a parent.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe your identity is in your vocation, and everything you do uh involves your job, your thinking, your actions, your focus.
SPEAKER_01: It all is wrapped up in your vocation.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you identify yourself as even a victim.
SPEAKER_01: And all of your thinking and all your doing flows out of that painful moment in your life.
SPEAKER_01: And everything in your life is organized around that.
SPEAKER_01: I want to challenge our identities here this morning because usually it's not as cut and dry as that.
SPEAKER_01: It's not as cut and dry as, well, I just identify as this one thing and nothing else.
SPEAKER_01: Usually we identify with many things.
SPEAKER_01: I'm an American.
SPEAKER_01: I am a parent.
SPEAKER_01: I am a husband.
SPEAKER_01: I am a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: And so we take all of these things and we use all these things to form our identity, but I want to challenge us here this morning to put all of it aside so that we can pursue the one true identity of every single person who is a follower of Christ, and that is the identity of a Christian.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing else that should come into the picture in terms of forming our thinking and our actions aside from our identity in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: There are many contexts in which we find ourselves in, such as in our families, jobs, workplaces, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: But those do not make us who we are.
SPEAKER_01: Christ makes us who we are.
SPEAKER_01: He informs our desires, informs what we do, and that's what we are going to be tackling here this morning.
SPEAKER_01: We're in Titus.
SPEAKER_01: The book of Titus was written from the Apostle Paul to a young man named Titus.
SPEAKER_01: Titus was a church planter of sorts.
SPEAKER_01: Uh Paul left Titus on the island of Crete, which was in the middle of the Mediterranean.
SPEAKER_01: And if you know anything about Cretan culture back then, it's where they uh exiled all the YouTube commenters and trolls from Twitter.
SPEAKER_01: That's to summarize the culture there.
SPEAKER_01: It was a very harsh culture.
SPEAKER_01: Um, it was not a culture that was welcoming of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And that's where Paul leaves Titus to plant all these churches and raise up elders to teach sound doctrine so that people could devote themselves to good works.
SPEAKER_01: And not just that, but he wants older men and older women to teach younger men and younger women to do what is good.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not sufficient for Paul to just say, do all these things, Titus.
SPEAKER_01: Here's my list.
SPEAKER_01: Go make sure it gets done.
SPEAKER_01: No, Paul wants to draw a direct line from what we as God's people are to do with who we as God's people are.
SPEAKER_01: And so that brings us to my first point here this morning, and that is that the gospel shapes our desires.
SPEAKER_01: If you'll join me in verse 11, the Apostle Paul writes, For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, the grace of God, as Paul puts here, that appears, shapes our desires.
SPEAKER_01: It shapes what we want.
SPEAKER_01: And it shapes us first by appearing.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Paul begins this in, in trying to form and shape how Titus is to think and God's people are to think.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to remind us that the grace of God has appeared.
SPEAKER_01: It's not hypothetical, it's not philosophical, it is a reality.
SPEAKER_01: God's grace appeared, and we know this because it came in the person of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ appeared, fully man, fully God.
SPEAKER_01: He lived among us.
SPEAKER_01: He died publicly for the sins of the world.
SPEAKER_01: He was buried.
SPEAKER_01: He rose again three days later and appeared to more than 500 people.
SPEAKER_01: It's a proven fact that Jesus Christ is the grace of God and has been made known to us.
SPEAKER_01: And it has appeared.
SPEAKER_01: And it does a number of things for us.
SPEAKER_01: First, it brings salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus Christ, the grace of God that has appeared, brings salvation.
SPEAKER_01: It redeems us from lawlessness, is what verse 14 says.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to ask you have you ever thought of your sin as lawlessness?
SPEAKER_01: That's usually not a word that we associate with our sins.
SPEAKER_01: But that's the very nature of what sin is: lawlessness.
SPEAKER_01: It is lawless living.
SPEAKER_01: The God who made you and gave you life is the only one in your life with the authority to tell you how to live.
SPEAKER_01: It's contrary to our culture's message, which encourages you to live how you want.
SPEAKER_01: No, God tells you what he wants, and it's up to us to align ourselves under the authority of God and follow his guidance in how he wants us to live.
SPEAKER_01: But how often do we do that?
SPEAKER_01: Every sinful thought, every careless word, every sinful action is living in lawlessness.
SPEAKER_01: It's rebellion against God.
SPEAKER_01: And God's grace appeared, bringing salvation and redemption, verse 14, from that lawlessness.
SPEAKER_01: Paul puts it this way in Romans 5, verse 8 through 9.
SPEAKER_01: But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, lawless, rebellious, disobedient sinners, Christ died for us.
SPEAKER_01: Since therefore we have been now justified by his blood, that word justified means to be made right before God.
SPEAKER_01: Much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
SPEAKER_01: Your rebellion, your lawlessness, your sin is fully deserving the wrath of God, and God's grace appeared to save you from it.
SPEAKER_01: We give a hearty amen to that, and that's usually where we stop.
SPEAKER_01: But God's grace doesn't just save us, it does far more than that.
SPEAKER_01: It's just not just a get out of hell free card.
SPEAKER_01: It takes an additional step and it trains us.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: God's grace appears bringing salvation, but then trains us.
SPEAKER_01: Trains us in a threefold training regimen.
SPEAKER_01: First, God's grace trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions.
SPEAKER_01: To renounce something means to disavow, disassociate, remove a relationship with.
SPEAKER_01: Look at this person taking this picture with the leader of Antifa or some other group.
SPEAKER_01: Your natural response would be disgust because you probably don't align with that, and then you would seek to disown, renounce, disavow yourself with that person and any association with anything they stand for.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what God's grace does for us.
SPEAKER_01: Because we have been saved from our sins, we are now trained to renounce the very things that God has saved us from.
SPEAKER_01: What is your relationship with your sin?
SPEAKER_01: We don't think of renouncing our sin.
SPEAKER_01: We usually make peace with it.
SPEAKER_01: We learn to live with it, we make excuses for it.
SPEAKER_01: But God's grace, if we truly understand it and lean into it, does not cause us to make peace with it.
SPEAKER_01: Causes us to say, I want nothing more to do with it.
SPEAKER_01: I renounce it, I disavow and disassociate myself with those things, with these worldly passions that cause me to live for myself.
SPEAKER_01: Trains us to renounce worldly passions and ungodliness, but also trains us in self-control.
SPEAKER_01: Renouncing worldly passions and being trained in self-control are two sides of the same coin.
SPEAKER_01: If you could think of it this way, when you go to the doctor's office, you ask the doctor, what must I do to live a healthy life?
SPEAKER_01: The doctor will likely tell you, well, if you eat a proper diet and exercise, you'll probably be okay.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: And I'm not sure if like lifting a heavy subway sandwich counts.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe if it's whole grain and it's got lots of vegetables, but eating a healthy diet and exercise, renouncing worldly passions is adjusting our diet, our appetite, what we want most in life.
SPEAKER_01: Self-control exercises the muscles of what we are now craving, and that is godliness.
SPEAKER_01: Godly living in the present age, Paul writes.
SPEAKER_01: Trains us in renouncing our sins and trains us in self-control.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want to say we have no hope for self-control if we refuse to renounce our sins.
SPEAKER_01: If we refuse to renounce the worldly passions that are making war with you right now.
SPEAKER_01: The worldly passions that cause you to live for yourself ultimately and not for God.
SPEAKER_01: The two go hand in hand.
SPEAKER_01: You can try self-control, but it will not come until you renounce the passions of this world and their desire for you.
SPEAKER_01: Grace of God has appeared, it brings salvation, trains us to renounce worldly passions, trains us in self-control, but also trains us in patience.
SPEAKER_01: Trains us in patience.
SPEAKER_01: As our desires are being shaped, as we are being trained in being self-controlled, we are also learning patience.
SPEAKER_01: We are learning to wait.
SPEAKER_01: And what are we waiting for?
SPEAKER_01: We are waiting, verse 13, for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is coming back someday.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know when.
SPEAKER_01: Sometime in the future.
SPEAKER_01: That's as accurate as I'm getting.
SPEAKER_01: He's coming back.
SPEAKER_01: And our only hope for this world and everything that plagues it is for Christ to return and set up his eternal kingdom, to rid the world of evil and sin, to punish the evildoers and reward those who find faith in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That is our ultimate hope.
SPEAKER_01: But as we learn to adjust our appetites and desires for the things that God wants, and as we exercise the muscles of self-control, we learn that we can patiently wait for that day.
SPEAKER_01: If you're finding yourself anxious more and more at the turmoil happening around this country and around the world, I want to encourage you that God's grace teaches us and instructs us in how to wait.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is coming back, I hope it's soon.
SPEAKER_01: But in the meantime, I'm going to learn to renounce my worldly passions.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to learn to be self-controlled and by God's grace, learn to be patient while I wait.
SPEAKER_01: The grace of God saves us.
SPEAKER_01: It trains us in that three-fold training regimen of renouncing worldly passions, self-control, and patience.
SPEAKER_01: But lastly, it purifies us.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 14.
SPEAKER_01: Who gave himself for us, Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works, eager to do good works.
SPEAKER_01: I want to focus in on that word, purify, to cleanse, to make spotless.
SPEAKER_01: Another way to think of it would be in, in a sense, sanctification, God purging the sin out of our lives to make us more and more like Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Now notice the context in which that purification happens here.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't happen in isolation, it doesn't happen as individuals, it happens as a people.
SPEAKER_01: Look to your left and your right right now.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to make you say anything to each other, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But look to your left and to your right right now.
SPEAKER_01: The people around you are the people that God has brought together for the purpose of purifying us.
SPEAKER_01: That's his intention.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, God is going to sanctify you and purify you as an individual, but let us not kid ourselves that being together with the body of Christ is a means of God doing that in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: That means all the messy people around you, including myself, we are part of that with you.
SPEAKER_01: God is using his people.
SPEAKER_01: And as he works through his people, he is purifying for himself something that he wants.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't happen in isolation, it happens as the body of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: As a pastor I once knew would say, that if you are not connected to the body of Christ, you are a severed finger.
SPEAKER_01: You maybe once belonged to the body, but being disconnected, there is no life flowing through you.
SPEAKER_01: There is nothing happening.
SPEAKER_01: You cannot hope to be eager for good works in the way that God intends if you are not connecting yourself with God's people.
SPEAKER_01: Those who I find most connected to the body of Christ are usually those who are most eager to do good.
SPEAKER_01: They're the ones who come up with the initiatives of how do we show the love of Christ to the world as a body?
SPEAKER_01: How do we reach those around us?
SPEAKER_01: How do we utilize our resources for the glory of God?
SPEAKER_01: Not trying to build the kingdom of faith, but certainly more than just trying to build my own personal kingdom in where I'm at.
SPEAKER_01: God brings us together as a people.
SPEAKER_01: He wants to use us as a people, and he wants to purify us as a people.
SPEAKER_01: And that's how God shapes our desires.
SPEAKER_01: God's grace saves us from our sin, trains us in godly living.
SPEAKER_01: And as we are trained and purified by Christ as a people, our desires are shaped, and then that shapes what we do, the things that we do, the tangible things.
SPEAKER_01: So so often we hear about all the stuff like we should know, but we want to get to the point of tell me what I must do, and I'm to that point in the sermon.
SPEAKER_01: So let me tell you what we must do as God's people now.
SPEAKER_01: Look at verses one and two.
SPEAKER_01: Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
SPEAKER_01: Verse one speaks specifically to how we relate to authority.
SPEAKER_01: There's some uncomfortability going to be brewing here.
SPEAKER_01: Because the the context in which Paul writes this, the government at this time is not friendly towards Christians to say it, to put it nicely.
SPEAKER_01: And they are have been actively persecuted at times up to this point.
SPEAKER_01: Now, before I go any further, I want you to know that earthly authority, regardless of who it is, whether it be the government or a pastor or an elder, it never exceeds the authority of God.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to give you an example of this.
SPEAKER_01: Acts chapter 5.
SPEAKER_01: The Apostle Peter and the boys, the rest of the apostles, they can't seem to shut up about Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: They're preaching everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: People are coming to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And it makes the religious authority really, really angry.
SPEAKER_01: They are so upset that they put them in prison.
SPEAKER_01: They charge them not to speak of Jesus, and they say if you do this, we're going to beat you.
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to keep doing this until you finally shut up.
SPEAKER_01: Don't speak in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Don't preach in his name.
SPEAKER_01: Just be quiet.
SPEAKER_01: So they're brought again before the religious authority.
SPEAKER_01: Chapter 5, verse 29.
SPEAKER_01: This is the response of Peter and the Apostles.
SPEAKER_01: We must obey God rather than men.
SPEAKER_01: So when the authority is giving you an ungodly order, you are under no obligation to submit to that, to obey that.
SPEAKER_01: We have that example here with the apostles.
SPEAKER_01: And in fact, they got called back in and charged not to speak of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: They did the very thing they said they were going to do.
SPEAKER_01: It says, don't speak of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: They beat them, and then look what happens to them.
SPEAKER_01: They left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
SPEAKER_01: They were willing to be disobedient to the point of being brutally hurt for the sake of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Earthly authority never exceeds the authority of God.
SPEAKER_01: So now that we have that out of the way, let's get into some uncomfortable territory here.
SPEAKER_01: You see, there is no biblical provision for the American Constitution and how we relate to authority.
SPEAKER_01: There's no biblical provision that says whether your government is a certain way you should submit and obey.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, the vast majority of the testimony of the Christian faith, both historically and around the world at this moment, is not of Christians being insurrectionists and disobedient to the government.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, Christians are obedient to the government, to where they're being put in jail.
SPEAKER_01: Their things are being burned up.
SPEAKER_01: And yet, none of them seems to want to start a rebellion.
SPEAKER_01: This is uncomfortable because we have things like the Second Amendment, which is supposed to be a promise and protection against tyrannical governments.
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you this.
SPEAKER_01: What would your posture be towards your government should they outlaw your faith?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they don't outlaw it.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they say, you can talk of Jesus in your church and in your home.
SPEAKER_01: Don't bring it anywhere else.
SPEAKER_01: What if they forced your children to go to certain schools?
SPEAKER_01: What if we could keep going down the line?
SPEAKER_01: There's no promise that America is going to be the way it is or how it has been.
SPEAKER_01: Plenty of empires have come and gone.
SPEAKER_01: How do we relate to authority?
SPEAKER_01: How do we relate to the government?
SPEAKER_01: My friend Peter offers us some insight here.
SPEAKER_01: 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 13, expands on this idea of submission and obedience to authorities.
SPEAKER_01: He says, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution.
SPEAKER_01: Whether it be to the emperor as supreme, this same emperor was one who actively persecuted Christians.
SPEAKER_01: And Peter says, be subject to him.
SPEAKER_01: Whether to the emperor as supreme or the governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
SPEAKER_01: So government certainly has a purpose, and that purpose is designed by God, but whether or not government is fulfilling that purpose, you and I have an obligation to submit ourselves to it and obey.
SPEAKER_01: The reason this makes us uncomfortable is because we are trained as Americans.
SPEAKER_01: That's part of our identity.
SPEAKER_01: We are trained as Americans, and our very founding was based on rebellion.
SPEAKER_01: We don't like the idea of submission to tyrannical governments.
SPEAKER_01: But I gotta tell you, Christians in Sudan, Christians from Russia 30, 40 years ago, would have a much different outlook on life than you and I do.
SPEAKER_01: We are to submit to them, not worrying about the outcome of situations, but rather look at verse 15 in 1 Peter 2.
SPEAKER_01: This is the will of God that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people, whether they be in government or whether they be your neighbors.
SPEAKER_01: The Christian relates to authority in submission and obedience, not in rebellion at any point.
SPEAKER_01: So that by doing good, we could silence those who seek to silence us.
SPEAKER_01: We are to live as people who are free, not using our freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
SPEAKER_01: Let me ask you, what is your attitude towards authority?
SPEAKER_01: Is it only acceptable to submit and obey authority when you are in agreement with that authority?
SPEAKER_01: Or are you willing to submit and obey authority despite your disagreements with them?
SPEAKER_01: Despite who's in the White House, who's in Congress, who's in the House of Representatives, who despite however many justices we have or who sits on the Supreme Court.
SPEAKER_01: Are you ready and willing to submit to them?
SPEAKER_01: I want to expand this a bit because I don't believe this is simply limited to human governments, although that is an expression of submission and obedience.
SPEAKER_01: Submission is the posture of the heart, the willingness to obey.
SPEAKER_01: Obedience is the action of submission.
SPEAKER_01: So the two go hand in hand.
SPEAKER_01: You can obey, but you might not be submissive because you're rolling your eyes and talking about how you don't want to do it.
SPEAKER_01: Parents can't get an amen from that, right?
SPEAKER_01: They might be obedient but not submissive.
SPEAKER_01: Paul tells us to be obedient and submissive to authorities.
SPEAKER_01: We live, all of us, under an authority, whether it be in our homes, our church, our government, your workplace.
SPEAKER_01: What is your relationship with the authority in your life?
SPEAKER_01: And what does your attitude, your posture towards that authority reflect of you?
SPEAKER_01: If you're inclined towards rebelliousness, towards authority in the home, church, government, it reveals a contradiction to the sound doctrine that Paul is trying to have Titus teach in these churches, and it denies God with our actions.
SPEAKER_01: God wants us to relate to authority in submission and obedience.
SPEAKER_01: And those who are truly shaped by God are willing to lay down their pride and humbly submit to the authorities in their lives, whether they agree with them or not.
SPEAKER_01: The grace of God, the gospel shapes us and how we relate to authority, but not just that, it shapes in how we relate to others.
SPEAKER_01: God's people are kind and gentle to all people.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to say that again.
SPEAKER_01: God's people are kind and gentle to all people.
SPEAKER_01: This goes hand in hand with the last one, regardless of your agreement or disagreement with them, whether or not they affiliate with your party, whether or not they affiliate with your denomination, whether or not they're that weird uncle who shows up on Thanksgiving, maybe you are that weird uncle, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_01: I've often thought this question, I'm just spending some personal reflection here with you.
SPEAKER_01: I've often wondered what would someone, such as a homosexual walking through those doors, how would they feel in this church?
SPEAKER_01: If we were living this out, would they feel as if they are being, we are being gentle towards them and kind?
SPEAKER_01: And there's a number of examples that we can fill in with that.
SPEAKER_01: There's no exception to this.
SPEAKER_01: This is the Christian witness lived out.
SPEAKER_01: This is the gospel shaping what we do.
SPEAKER_01: Whether you're in person or sitting behind a computer screen, we are to be kind and gentle to all people.
SPEAKER_01: And the manner in which that's shown that Paul says here, he says, to speak evil of no one and to avoid fights, avoid quarreling.
SPEAKER_01: That word not speaking evil is literally to blaspheme.
SPEAKER_01: And blasphemy in ancient times was a serious offense.
SPEAKER_01: It was taking God's word and or God's name and using it in an inappropriate way.
SPEAKER_01: It was a serious offense worthy of the death penalty in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: Paul uses that word as it relates to others, blaspheming people, slandering them, dragging their names through the mud.
SPEAKER_01: We don't do that as God's people, because we are to be kind and gentle to all people.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel shapes what we do.
SPEAKER_01: Our conduct towards authorities and towards a watching world is a direct reflection of God's conduct towards you and I.
SPEAKER_01: And that brings me to my next point.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel shapes who we are.
SPEAKER_01: This is our identity, friends.
SPEAKER_01: We've talked about the gospel shaping our desires and our actions, but now we're getting to the core of who we are.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel shapes who we are.
SPEAKER_01: Look with me in verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
SPEAKER_01: But when the goodness and loving kindness of God, I'm gonna pause right there and I want to rewind.
SPEAKER_01: This is who you were, everybody.
SPEAKER_01: I don't care where you came from, this is who you were.
SPEAKER_01: Rebellious, disobedient, slandering others, led astray, you were slaves to your passions and pleasures.
SPEAKER_01: You passed your days in malice, and you might say, Well, I'm not naturally an angry person, but you probably get angry towards people who disagree with you.
SPEAKER_01: This is who we were.
SPEAKER_01: But God, when when his loving kindness and goodness appeared, he saved us.
SPEAKER_01: He saved us.
SPEAKER_01: He saved you.
SPEAKER_01: You didn't save yourself.
SPEAKER_01: That's clarified by what he says next.
SPEAKER_01: Not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.
SPEAKER_01: My friends, if you are here today and you are not a Christian and you don't understand the difference between Christianity and all the world's religions and all the world's philosophies, this is it.
SPEAKER_01: Christianity is not a religion of do, it is a religion of done.
SPEAKER_01: It's been done for you.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, nothing, absolutely nothing you do contributes one ounce to God saving you.
SPEAKER_01: He didn't look down the corridor of your life and say, Well, this person's gonna be awesome.
SPEAKER_01: I might use him.
SPEAKER_01: Well, she's got godly conduct, she's gonna straighten her husband out.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna save her.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't do that.
SPEAKER_01: God did not do that.
SPEAKER_01: He saves you because he is loving and kind.
SPEAKER_01: He saves you according to his own mercy.
SPEAKER_01: He pours out his spirit on you.
SPEAKER_01: He washes your heart, he regenerates it so that your desires are now shaped by the goodness of God and your actions flow out of that.
SPEAKER_01: He regenerates you, he renews you.
SPEAKER_01: And being justified by his grace, we become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
SPEAKER_01: This is who you are.
SPEAKER_01: For those of you who are in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: This is you.
SPEAKER_01: You are not foolish because you've been given the wisdom of God.
SPEAKER_01: You are not disobedient because God has regenerated your heart to obedience.
SPEAKER_01: You are not led astray because God has found you.
SPEAKER_01: You are not a slave to your passions and pleasures because you are now a slave to righteousness and God.
SPEAKER_01: You are not passing your days in malice and envy.
SPEAKER_01: Instead, you are passing your days now in committing your life to the good works that God has called us to.
SPEAKER_01: This is who we are.
SPEAKER_01: Don't ever think that the things you do come from anywhere else if you are in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: They don't come from you being an American, they don't come from you being a parent, they don't come from your job.
SPEAKER_01: They don't come from anything that's happened to you in the past, it won't come from anything that you hope to happen to you in the future.
SPEAKER_01: This is your identity, and out of this identity flows the things that we do as God's people.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 8, Paul says, the saying is trustworthy.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to insist on these things.
SPEAKER_01: Why?
SPEAKER_01: So that those who have believed in God, those who find their identity in the gospel, may be careful to devote themselves to good works.
SPEAKER_01: Who do you think you are?
SPEAKER_01: Who do you believe yourself to be?
SPEAKER_01: That shapes everything we do.
SPEAKER_01: I would love to stop there.
SPEAKER_01: Unfortunately, that's not where Paul stops.
SPEAKER_01: We have to discuss a brief problem here because Paul seems to end the train of thought, not there in verse 8, but rather in verse 11.
SPEAKER_01: So we have a few more verses to go.
SPEAKER_01: Why does Paul continue on?
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's because anytime God's people are reminded of who they are and called to live godly lives and called to good works, there are going to be lies creeping closely.
SPEAKER_01: The enemy is going to try and keep God's people from fulfilling God's purposes.
SPEAKER_01: And that's why Paul says, be, I'm sorry, but avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.
SPEAKER_01: And the people who perpetuate these lies and stir up division, they should be warned once and then twice.
SPEAKER_01: And if they still don't listen, they should have, we should have nothing more to do with them, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful, he is self-condemned.
SPEAKER_01: Those are powerful words.
SPEAKER_01: But these are lies that Paul is referring to that are meant to distract God's people from who they are and what they are to do.
SPEAKER_01: I pray we don't take them lightly.
SPEAKER_01: This is a call to discernment, my friends.
SPEAKER_01: And not just discernment, but also submission and obedience to authorities.
SPEAKER_01: You might wonder why I'm saying that, why I'm calling back to that previous point.
SPEAKER_01: That's because God has placed in this church elders and pastors who love you dearly, who care for you very much.
SPEAKER_01: It grieves us.
SPEAKER_01: We pray and pour out our heart to God when we see people being deceived by these things.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes when we try and warn people, we're often given the cold shoulder or told, you know, well, you know, I believe this part of God's Bible, you must believe another part of God's Bible.
SPEAKER_01: And that's exactly the way these people operated.
SPEAKER_01: The false teachers.
SPEAKER_01: They would find things in God's word and build entire doctrinal systems on those things and use that doctrinal system to pull God's people away because it sounded nice.
SPEAKER_01: You could point to a book, chapter, and verse about it.
SPEAKER_01: My friends, if you don't believe what I'm saying, this is exactly why Paul told Titus to appoint elders in every town.
SPEAKER_01: Read chapter one.
SPEAKER_01: He lays out the qualifications for elders and then says what they are to do.
SPEAKER_01: They are to combat false doctrine, not because of themselves, but for the people they are leading.
SPEAKER_01: My friends, I pray.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that the gospel would shape our desires and deeds because it has radically shaped who we are.
SPEAKER_01: I pray that we would find our motivation and who we are in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And I pray that we would not be distracted by anything that's going to pull us away from our identity in Christ and what we are to do.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_01: God in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: It is a it is a heavy thing to reflect on who we are.
SPEAKER_01: I can't get away, Lord, from verses three and four.
SPEAKER_01: We were living in rebelliousness, lawlessness against you.
SPEAKER_01: And you came.
SPEAKER_01: You came to us.
SPEAKER_01: You took our sins upon your broad shoulders.
SPEAKER_01: You suffered the wrath of God in our place.
SPEAKER_01: So that we would have a new transformed identity.
SPEAKER_01: To where we can now do good works, not for ourselves, but for you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And we know that in our doing good for you, we know that's where eternal lasting change happens.
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I pray this week we would lean into who we are.
SPEAKER_01: We would lean into our identity.
SPEAKER_01: We would let the gospel shape our thinking, our desires, and our actions.
SPEAKER_01: I pray, Lord, that you would protect us, giving us discernment from the many distractions of the false gospels that are prevalent everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: Coming in the forms of books and Bible studies and YouTube channels, Lord, protect us from that so that we may not lose sight of who we are and what we are to do for you.
SPEAKER_01: We pray this in Christ's name.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.