JUSTIFIED FREELY
#044 JUSTIFIED FREELY
Scripture Romans 3:19-31 NIV Orig. 11-12-61 (11-85)
Rewr. 10-5-88
Passage 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[b] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. 28 For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
Purpose: Continuing the series from Romans, here defining the message of justification for all mankind.
Keywords: Bible Study God, Grace Man, Lost Justification Law
Timeline/Series: Romans
Introduction
Although it has been a number of years, many of us will still remember news reports out of the city of Philadelphia, and the Bellevue Stratford Hotel. It was the summer of 1976. By some fateful choice, the American Legion was holding its annual meeting in Philadelphia. Many of the legionnaires were staying at the Bellevue Stratford.
After the convention was over, and many of the conventioneers had returned home, a strange pall of illness invaded the lives of many of them. Although they were in hospitals in several parts of the country, their doctors read the symptoms the very same way. These people had an unknown illness. For that reason, it became known as “legionnaires” disease. In the weeks following at least 29 people died as a result of complications from the disease. These people had either stayed at The Bellevue Stratford Hotel, or had taken meals there.
Public censure of the hotel began immediately. Before the end of that year, a period of no more than six months, the hotel was closed. What had at one time been one of the proudest of the Philadelphia hotels, slowly sank into an undeserved oblivion. The hotel did not cause those deaths. But its association with them was such that a cautious public would no longer avail itself of these accommodations.
We have an aversion to that which seems to be a threat to our physical well-being. We are insisting on more and more safety in every mode of transportation. We spend huge amounts of money encouraging medical science to protract life.
We have no aversion, however, to sin. We seem willing to take our chances with it even when we know what a threat it is. Thus, Paul reminds his readers, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace through . . . Christ Jesus.”
I. First, then, Is the Need for Justification. V23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Thomas Hobbes wrote, “whatsoever a man does against his conscience, is sin.” The first three chapters are an extension of this premise. God has revealed Himself to the gentiles through nature (Romans 1:19-20). He revealed Himself to the Jews through Law (Romans 2:14-15). All have rebelled against this revelation (Romans 1:29-32 and 2:1-5). All will be judged on the basis of truth rejected (Romans 2:9-11). All are equally guilty (Romans 3:21-23).
Here will begin (through chapter 8) the supreme workings of faith. Romans 8:38 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, or angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things past, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Man, whatever his cultural bias, is the fallen creation of God. We were created in, and for, holiness. Acts 17:26f “From one man made He every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth: and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him. . . reach out for Him and find Him, though . . . not far from any of us.”
The first man was created in holiness but voluntarily fallen. So, each one of us, though touched by that same life force of God, is fallen. Holiness implanted but not yielded to in our lives, is thus lost.
We were created to remain under the just law of God. The article was somber and sobering. “Last night while you slept: 15,000 arrests were made, more than 3,000 were committed to mental institutions, there were nearly 100 suicides and 30 murders.”
II. There is Purpose in This Justification. V22 “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” Man had the choice of positive obedience, and of belief about trust in community, too. It was no impossible alternative. The only available example is Jesus. While we have the seed of sin, the choice is our own.
God chose man to dwell in fellowship. That purpose has never changed. It was witnessed by law and prophets. Isaiah’s “suffering servant” passage (Isaiah 52:13f) confirms. Isaiah 54:7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring thee back.”
The same truth pertains to Jew and Gentile, v22. “There is no difference.” V23 “Both have sinned,” or “miss the mark.” Hebrew v. Greek suggest bad aim or powerlessness.
“Justified freely” (v24) means a judicial decree. “Redemption” (v24) refers to a slave market, where a price had to be paid.
I Peter 1:18f “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish.” This brings us to the very heart of the gospel. It speaks of the measure of redemption—“freely” (v24). It speaks of the manner of redemption—"by His grace” (v24). It speaks of the means of redemption—“through . . . Christ Jesus” (v24).
It behooves us to recognize the choice that we are left to make. Human reason tells us to avoid the implication of guilt. Matthew Arnold, poet and author of Victorian England, pictured sin “not as a monster but as an infirmity.” Elsewhere: “an infirmity to get rid of.” He says not “How”!
The likely choice is the (word), not human reasoning. Romans 3:2 “First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” Guilt is a factor, and restitution is inevitable. The workable alternative is faith in Christ as redeemer and sin bearer.
III. Finally, We See the Example of Justification. V28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” Paul’s argument here is not simply justification by faith. He has already settled that: V24 “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ.”
His argument is one for the exclusiveness of that faith justification. His point is clear. God does not opt to save some by faith and others by work. Such inconsistency is the spawn of infidelity. It is a human trait, not a sovereign one. If God’s mood allowed such swings, how would we know what is His contemporary exercise?
So the point is thoroughly made: He is God of both Jew and Gentile. Jeremiah 10:7 “Who would not fear you, O you king of the nations?” “Nations” is reference to non-Jews. Greek translates ethnos as “nations.”
Mark 12:29f “Hear O Israel, the Lord is one . . . . You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” For the Jew, the law is the source through which faith flows. (Galatians 3:24, in the King James calls law a “schoolmaster.”) For the Gentile, grace is the instrument of faith. But for both, it is the act of believing faith that saves.
So, Paul reminds us that sin is the problem. We are without defense or excuse. Repentance is the key that activates this faith. Thomas Fuller, English churchman and historian, said, “You cannot repent too soon, because you do not know how soon it will be too late.”
Closing
On our one trip abroad, we stopped briefly in Venice. On a ride through the canals, we saw the bridge called The Bridge of Sighs. It is said to lead from a courtroom to a dismal prison. “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.”
CHANGES IN THE WIND
#023 CHANGES IN THE WIND
Scripture I Corinthians 15:35-58 NIV Orig. 8-18-63
Rewr. 3-29-89
Passage: 35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[a]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we[b] bear the image of the heavenly man.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[c]
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”[d]
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Purpose: Continuing a study for Prayer Meeting out of the epistle to the Corinthians.
Keywords: Bible study Resurrection
Timeline/Series: I Corinthians
Introduction
Twice a year we notice instantly the changes taking place all around us. Last Winter we observed the deterioration of nature. Where there had been beautiful flowers, only spindly stalks remained. Where vegetable gardens had produced food for our tables, only a few sparse weeds staked their claims under the diminishing sun. Where trees had spontaneously graced our lives with shade, all that remained was leaf litter to be gathered and burned. But change had occurred.
Change has come once more. From the lifelessness of Winter there is beginning to emerge the incandescent beauty of Spring. Dogwood, azaleas, tulips abound, and share their joy all around.
Change is natural. But something beyond the natural is God’s gift to the redeemed. Paul is determined to share the uplift of this victory.
I. Raising Some Oft Asked Questions. V35 “How are the dead raised? And with what manner of body do they come?” The Jews deliberated such questions. They are questions about the resurrection body. The rabbis windily debated these.
The Greeks did not believe in a bodily resurrection. They believed in the immortality of the soul. The body of flesh was the house of sin.
The text exemplifies the resurrection body. Such debating is foolish. Death is the natural corridor through which such life begins. Not speaking as a botanist, but a plant dies and produces seed, which germinates to form life. There are variances throughout creation: The flesh of man as beast leads to the glory of bodies terrestrial and celestial.
Thus, resurrection is the ultimate hope. There are four antitheses:
a) The perishable vs. the imperishable—Romans 8:21 “The creature . . . shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
b) Humiliation vs. glory—Philippians 3:21, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. . . .”
c) Weakness vs. power—II Corinthians 12:9, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.”
d) Physical vs. spiritual—There are two supreme thoughts here: that the physical body belongs to all, and that the spiritual body belongs to the redeemed.
II. A Vital Difference Between the Two Adams. V45 “The first man Adam became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit.”
The first Adam is a man of dust, destined to return to the ground, and with a nature that guarantees only a grave. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. PBS’s Nova ran a story about the concentration, highest in the world, of Huntington’s Disease in villages along the shores of Lake Maracaibo. This neurological disease is always fatal, and the program was called “The Killer Gene.”
Christ is not a man of such nature, but a man of heaven. Spiritual bodies are for those who share His nature. Romans 8:29 “to be conformed to the image of His Son.”
III. The Mystery of the End-Time. V51 “Behold I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” There is a mystery to be declared. It has a different connotation from I Corinthians 14:2, which is about the mystery of speaking in tongues. There the idea is secretiveness. Here one thinks of unveiling.
Here it involves immortality. In Greek, athanasia means to deny death, euthanasia means “easy death.” Man’s immortality is not natural, but by grace. Hosea 13:14 “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death.”
Christ is the One in whom is victory.
A HOPE THAT IS WONDERFUL
#021 A HOPE THAT IS WONDERFUL
Scripture Romans 8:18-39 NIV Orig. 7-15-62
Rewr. 3-21-85
Passage: 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[b] have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[c]
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[d] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Purpose: Continuing a series from Romans, define for my people that wonderful hope that is in Christ.
Keywords: God Sovereignty Hope Holy Spirit
Timeline/Series: Romans
Introduction
I read recently the story of a young writer who believed that he had composed the classic short story. He was persuaded that it was the best that he could do. Though the plot was not original, the young man felt that it was a masterpiece of realism.
One day he was introduced to a famous author, and to his delight, the old man asked his new friend to come to his study and read his manuscript to him.
The story was about the only son of a poor widow living in a cottage nesting in a Pennsylvania valley. The boy decided to go to the city to seek his fortune. The mother, in true motherly form, saw him off saying, “Now remember son, if you ever get into trouble, no matter how bad it is, you set off home and as you come over the hill, you’ll always find a light burning in this window—and I’ll be waiting to welcome you.”
As the young author read his manuscript he told the young man’s story. It was one of decline and fall into debauchery and crime. After a time in prison, and after his release, he decided it was time to return to the old home place. He came finally to the only hill that remained between himself and his home. As he walked over the crest and looked down, there was the outline of the old cottage in the evening gloom, but no light burning in the window.
The old author, who had listened intently all the while, leaped quickly to his feet and cried: “You young devil, put that light back.” That light represented hope. As long as it remained, then the remoteness of the story did not matter.
I. A Hope that is Wonderful Defines the Human Struggle. V22f “For we know that the whole creation groans in labor pains together until now. And not only they, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit.” We must first link with the prior message. V16 The Holy Spirit confirms human spirit. We are therefore God’s children—heirs. Heirship is fulfilled only at death. As another thread in the tapestry of eternity, death becomes less frightening. In 1939 Lou Gehrig said of his illness: "Fans, for the past two weeks, you've been reading about a bad break. Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” In 2 Corinthians 10:15 Paul wrote “When I am weak, then I am strong.”
Oneness with Christ is ours.
In this sense, Paul confirms human suffering. Whatever the struggle, it is less overpowering beholding what is to be. All of us know someone in the throes of some deep agony. How much easier when there is a supportive family. What a difference friends can make.
Paul says (V19) “creation” will be better off for man’s struggle to redemption. Natural man brings nature to the brink. PBS, in “Passion to Protect,” reported than 1 in 1000 animal species becomes extinct through a natural event, once a month through a man-made event.
Misuse of chemicals are creating a far-ranging problem. An article published 3-20-85 reported that it was a pesticide chemical that caused the death of 2,000 people in Bhopal, India.
Man’s spiritual redemption, cosmos out of chaos, is nature’s hope also. Hope (v20) is not God’s hope. It is man’s hope, nature’s hope. With God there can be nothing less than absolute certainly. The struggle is of divine ordination. The world may be in its birth pains, V22—tsunami, earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, etc. Man is in his coming to oneness with God.
II. A Hope that is Wonderful Describes the Spirit’s Intercession. (V26-27). V26 “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us.” It is intercession in prayer. He doesn't do our praying for us. When burdens stymie prayer, He comes to our rescue. It is not intercession when we are not praying, but when we can’t pray.
It is intercession in weakness. We are trying to impress others with our strengths. But “when I am weak, then I am strong.” The Holy Spirit comes in our weakness. Helps (V26)—sunantilambanomai, “to take hold of with another.” Ever tried to pick up a wheelbarrow by the handles? Even if a friend takes one of the handles? We need a helper who understands the problem. For instance, the best marriages are often those where weaknesses are known, understood, and accepted. It is intercession seeking compliance with the will of God. “According to [the will of] God” V27 is surely the sense of the verse: 2 Corinthians 10:15: “Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly.”
III. A Hope that is Wonderful Explains God’s Sovereignty V26-28. V28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who are called according to his purpose.” Not some pantheism by which we are elected if all goes well with us. Not some theistic “chance.” 2 Samuel 7:28 “And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.” It is God active in the framework of history. Acts 17:24-28 at Mars Hill: “He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their habitation” (V26). God guides that history by those who cooperate with His purpose, just as we must seek to pray for the Spirit to intercede.
As we “faith” events around us, we are “working together” with God. “Purpose” translates “a placing before.” It is to establish priorities. V. 29-30 contain God’s loving purpose for the Christian. “Foreknew”—to know before hand; “predestinate”—horizon—to set a limit, “confirmed to the image of His Son”; “called”—all are called, those who respond are certified; “justified”—legal and formal acquittal; “glorified”—bring to a promised place of honor.
IV. A Hope that is Wonderful Exemplifies Christ’s Substitution (VV 31-39). V32 “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also freely give us all things?" We are redeemed by this substitutionary work of Christ. In Him we are God’s own dear children. He doesn’t love others less. His love is personalized by response as John was “the Disciple whom Jesus loved.” To be in Christ is to be uncondemned (V34). To be in Christ is forever (V39).
Closing
We had a couple of pianos tuned recently. Did you ever wonder how they do it in big chuches where they have lots of pianos? How would it be to tune the first, and then to tune each succeeding one to the one just finished? Would the twenty be in harmony with the first? No, in no way!
Our two were tuned with a tuning fork. If one had two hundred to be tuned, they would all require tuning with the same tuning fork.
This wonderful hope, of which we have spoken, is “in Christ.” It is up to each of us to rest in Him to have this hope.
SUBJECT TO HIGHER POWERS
#020 SUBJECT TO HIGHER POWERS
Scripture Romans 13:1-14 NIV Orig. 11-11-62 (8-85)
Rewr. 5-18-88
Passage: Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.[c]
Purpose: To speak to my people during Religious Liberty Week on the need to subject ourselves to the social as well as spiritual needs around us.
Keywords: Citizenship Law Duty Love
Timeline/Series: Romans
Introduction
Among sermons in my library is one preached more than a century ago by Robert William Dale, a Congregational pastor in Birmingham, England. He raises, and speaks to a question pertinent to Religious Liberty Week. He quotes John 6:15:
“Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew.”
He then asks, “Did not our Lord miss a great chance when he refused the position which they offered Him? . . . . Why did He not consent to reign?” He then answers his own question. “It was the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, . . . that provoked the popular enthusiasm. No doubt the people thought that if He were their king all their material wants . . . would receive satisfaction. Ah! But it is not Christ’s first object to secure . . . outward conditions favorable to universal ease and comfort. That was clearly not His object in the creation of the material universe which He has built for our home. Men have to live by the sweat of their brow, and in most parts of the world, they have to work hard in order to live. There are fogs and floods, harvests are blighted; there is intolerable heat, . . . cold; men are disciplined to endurance by physical discomfort; their intellectual life is provoked to strenuous activity by the hardships and difficulties of their condition. The proverbial garden of the sluggard is not a reproach to Providence but to the sluggard. It was God’s will that he should have not only a garden bright with flowers, but that he should have the physical vigor, the industry, the intelligence that would come from cultivating it. God cares more for the man than for the garden. . . . Government is a divine institution, but it is through human virtue, . . . self-sacrifice, . . . patience, . . . sagacity, that the material blessings which are possible through the social condition are to be actually won. . . . It was impossible that Christ should accept power on the terms upon which He knew that it had been offered to Him.”
It would be left up to us to secure the kind of government that we deserve. That’s what Religious Liberty Week is all about.
I. Subject to Higher Powers Means Duties to the State. V1 “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God.” This acknowledges the sovereignty of God, and abused authority is answerable to Him. Governing authorities are put in place. Even in a police state such authority is responsible.
The will of God includes government within a social system. The dark ages were marked by a serious challenge to state and church. Henry the Eighth is easily recognized for this period.
Paul, who knew no pope, seems to have made room for no such power vested in the church.
Ann and I served on a Jefferson Parish jury years ago. A man from our neighborhood was in the jury pool with us; a Jehovah’s Witness, he asked to be excused.
I Peter 2:13f: “. . . submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, or to those sent by him. . . .”
We are fortunate indeed to live within an open system. Agitation for better government is allowed and expected. The system, with all its faults, advocates teaching to improve. We should all be good students of history. Obey the law, but be prepared to work to improve the system as needed.
Does being “subject” mean respecting leaders? It is a military term. It acknowledges a chain of command. I remember my own military experience. We were admonished to salute the rank.
In 1977, the little Strode boy in Marion, North Carolina, and his parents were far off base; it is reprehensible for parents to allow their son to say the things he said about teachers and administrators.
I remember a First Sergeant whom I did not, could not, respect, but I was subject to him.
II. Subject to Higher Powers Means Duties to Citizens of the State. V8 “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” He is speaking outside of the purview of the church: “Owe no man.” Do not be obligated to another. Don’t let others control your destiny.
He uses the civic term “neighbor” rather than “brother”: “’Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor.”
Some see contradiction with Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace.” Our relation to God is spiritual (Romans 6:14). Our relation to the world is legal (Romans 13:8f).
James Stifler (E13p219), The Epistle to the Romans—“God demands much more of the believer than the state asks. The latter says ‘Thou shalt not injure thy neighbor.’ God says, ‘Thou shalt love him as thyself.’”
The goal, then, for the Christian, is to care about other people. It extends beyond other “believers.”
It is an obligation to pay our own way and our just debts. Love teaches us not only what good to do, it teaches what ungood to avoid. Love restrains us from: (v9) adultery, murder, theft, false witness, covetousness; all else is “comprehended” in “love.”
We would do well to remember that the state can only administer by the sword. If it administers wrongly, grievous injustice can and does result. The church, however, is to administer through love. Even if we are wrong, what injustice is there in love? V9: “. . . All is summed up (kephelaion) in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
III. Subject to Higher Powers Means Enforcement of Civil Duties. V13 “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.”
What we do, do it because of the time. V11 “Knowing the time.” There is too much tendency to sleep, moreso, to fail to see moral and cultural deprivations. Biblical advice is that it is time to awaken out of stupor; time to grasp the meaning of ineptitude; time to perceive that we can make a difference. On May 14, 1988, while Monroe, Louisiana, bar owners were celebrating their school’s 2a.m. victory, a customer of Kentucky bars was turning into the wrong lane of the freeway, and killed 27 people.
The true significance of this passage is in its relationship to Christ. First, the “night” of Christ’s away, V12; second, the “day” of His reappearing. They were to put off the works of darkness, put on the works of light. Ephesians 6:13 “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
You see, when we have taken Christ, we have done all we can, or need to do. Hebrews 10:37, “For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come, and will not tarry.”
Simple honesty demands that we be in daily living what we claim to be in profession. V13 “Let us walk honestly.” It means “becomingly, decently.” Paul uses the same word in I Thessalonians 4:12, “Walk honestly toward them who are outsiders.” We who are believers do have moral, as well as spiritual obligations to others. Not many “drunken” or “perverted orgies,” or even “jealous strife.” But the text reminds us (v10) “Love worketh no ill to one’s neighbor,” remembering Christ’s definition.
The summation of all is that we are to “put on” Christ. Romans 6:3 “As many as are baptized in Jesus, are baptized in His death.” Galatians 3:27 “For as many as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ.”
There is obedience. There is disposition. There is hope.
***THE CONCLUSION OF THIS SERMON HAS BEEN LOST***
PUTTING OFF AND PUTTING ON
#022 PUTTING OFF AND PUTTING ON
Scripture Ephesians 4:17-24 NIV Orig. 11/14/71
Rewr. 10/3/85 (10-79)
Passage: 17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Purpose: To lead my people to consider the willful response of the believer to become a new person in Christ Jesus.
Keywords: Assurance Holiness Obedience Revival
Introduction
Paul shares a different kind of expression with us by way of his instruction to the believers in Ephesus. “Putting Off and Putting On” is an exclamation of his faith that in Christ we become new people. It is not a new concept. We are quite familiar with such terms as “the new birth” or “born again.” These terms, falling into contemporary jargon, are losing their significance to us, however.
The Christ-life itself is not now, nor has it ever been, an impossible ideal. But we must understand that the hope and joy of that life, is not so much in its fulfillment as in its aspiration, something of which Robert Browning wrote:
That low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it.
This high man seeks a great thing to pursue,
Dies ere he knows it.
Paul here encourages the Ephesians about “Putting Off and Putting On.” They are to “put off” the old man, the deceiver, the corrupt one. They are then enabled to “put on” the new person, being recreated to honor God.
Years ago, E. Stanley Jones labored for Christ in India. This great missionary statesman, earnest and deeply committed believer, maintained a hope that Christianity would become culturalized into the very essence of the life of India. He knew that little headway would be made as long as his faith was looked upon as a “religion of foreigners.” Mahatma Gandhi, the great liberator of India, was his friend. Mr. Jones asked what could be done to accomplish such a goal. There were three suggestions:
That all of you Christians begin to live more like Jesus.
That you practice your religion without toning it down.
That you present yourselves by love, for love is the central soul of Christianity.
I. Put Off the Old Man of Corruption. Put on the New Person of Obedience. V23 “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” We are not given any false notions that this is easily done.
Our age is a critical age. It is not a time of peace. It is a time of war. Revolution is a way of life. Korean evangelist Billy Kim survived the Japanese occupation of his country and the Korean War, was educated in America, and delivered a speech entitled “I Speak for Democracy.” Wimpy Smith, missionary to Argentina, said that country was like a phonograph record, 33-1/3 revolutions per minute. The only time an assassination in the Third World captured my attention was when Fritha was in Liberia.
Perhaps we don’t expect to hear of these things, but we do not abhor them. We make light of the struggles going on.
The Bible pictures this Christ-life accomplished under adverse conditions. Ephesians 6:11 “Put on the whole armor of God.” II Timothy 2:3 “Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. As Christ’s soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in worldly affairs, for then you cannot satisfy the One who has enlisted you in His army.”
Dr. E.V Hill, pastor of a church in Watts, defines their sign: Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Conservative-Liberal-Militant: He says, “Conservative, because we believe every word of the Bible. Liberal, because we try every means available to get the job done. Militant, because we will not take ‘No!’ for an answer.”
Obedience is to desire those things that will better enable our service for Christ’s sake. It is more than living within the framework of a book. It is that! The Bible! It is letting that book change us. The Hebrews had the book, but living without it they failed. We Christians can carry a New Testament in our pocket or purse, but is Christ in our hearts?
V 21,22a “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: That you put off your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts.”
II. Put Off the Old of Doubt, Put On the New Person of Assurance. V23 “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” The substance of this assurance is that Christ is Lord. This link in Paul’s life is clear. I Corinthians 2:2, “I am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Philippians 1:20 “So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death.”
It is just as clear that this is God’s will for us all. You admire this in religious leaders. You insist upon it in pastor and staff. You desire it in deacons. You respond to it in Sunday School teachers. And you should! But it is the goal of God for all believers. Look ahead to V30. The believer is “sealed for the day of redemption.” The “seal,” then as now, declares ownership.
Such assurance declares that you are traveling the available road Godward. In Galatians 3:27, Paul uses this very idea of “putting on” Christ through baptism. It is clearly a step Godward. Baptism implies repentance, remorse over sin, a turning. Its use here takes us another step Godward. We put on the teaching of Christ. We seek that that He offers. It is to take the garments of Christ to cover our lack. Colossians 3:14 “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.”
Remember all the while that any other road is a road to Godlessness. There is a place of eternal loss. Punishment in the spiritual sense is the worst kind of punishment.
III. Put Off the Old Person of Worldliness, Put On the New Person of Holiness. V24 “And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in righteousness and true holiness.” It is a newness of life that instills a new and different purpose. We need to remember that it is accomplished by degrees, rarely in great, sudden surges, more often in slow, predictable change.
We must also recall that Christ, Himself, only achieved this response to God absolutely. We may go forward for a time, lose ground, start, as it were, over.
But once enlightened through Christ, we are never set adrift. Isaiah 32:18 “My people shall dwell in . . . sure dwellings.” 2 Corinthians 5:1, “We have a building of God, an house not made with hands.” I Peter 3:13 “Who is he that will harm you, if you be followers of that which is good?”
It is a purpose that separates us to the will of God: to live in His will with or without material advantage; to rightly interpret the bounds of warranted pleasure; to interpret God’s will on the basis of the Word.
Conclusion
In Shaw’s play, Saint Joan, an interesting dialogue takes place. Joan of Arc, as she would later be called, is hearing the voice of God, and is then told to declare to the king what she has heard.
Dauphin: “O your voices, your voices. Why don’t your voices come to me? I am the king, not you.”
Joan: “They do come, but you do not hear them. You have not sat in the field in the evening listening to them. When the Angelus rings, you cross yourself and have done with it, but if you prayed with your heart and listened to the thrilling of the bells in the air after they stop ringing, you would hear the voices as well as I do.”