I’m Good
With Rebellion (pt. 2)
Romans 6:15-19
Introduction
· As of Thursday afternoon, I’ll be
pausing ministry for 10 weeks as I’m on sabbatical. I’d ask that you would pray
that God does some sanctifying work in my life during that time.
· Last week we looked a lot at what God
has to say in His Word about His holiness
· Today, I want us to think about what
that means for the child of God to be holy, my holiness (or sanctification).
o
What
are the implications of God’s holiness?
o
And
what’s the application?
· One verse I’d like to keep in front
of us:
o
(v:17
) “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become
obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were
committed ”
o
Key:
“from the heart…”
o
Often,
it merely external and fear driven
· How will the gospel of Jesus Christ,
propel (us) to holiness, or, obedience, instead of moralistic – therapeutic –
deism?
· If you don’t know what I mean, let me
define this premise for you:
o
Moralistic
– that an outward system of rules based on acceptable social conduct in the
church as the foundation
o
Therapeutic
– my felt needs are the highest end of God’s world, I want to feel good about
myself
o
Deism
– The God is only really involved by me when things are tough and I need
something from Him, appeal to a higher power
§ I don’t need a relationship for that
§ God the vending machine
· What MTD actually produces is a
Pharisee
o
The
fruit of which is: rebellion
o
(Matthew
23:23) “ ‘Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have
neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.
These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.’ ”
o
Woe
– He’s saying this is serious
o
What
was weightier for Jesus was the heart
· I want to take three areas of
sanctification, and look at just one brief application, a verse of Scripture we
tend to shove aside. Our sanctification in:
o
The
Church
o
Parenting
o
Marriage
o
I
understand there are many others, but these are subtle ignored sins
o
But
first, let’s start with:
MESSAGE
· Rebellion
o
What
is rebellion?
§ Looking at the OT & NT rebellion
is linked with disobedience
§ ἀνυπότακτος anupótaktos;
to subject, sit under in an orderly manner. Not subject (Heb. 2:8); disobedient
to authority, disorderly (1 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:6, 10).[3]
§ ἀνυπότακτος anupótaktos; pert. to refusing submit to authority,
undisciplined,
disobedient; 1 Ti 1:9. Of
flagrant law-breakers Tit 1:10. Of
spoiled children 1:6.[4]
o
So
the NT definition has a connotation of a disobedient spoiled child
o
There
really isn’t much difference between disobedience and rebellion in the technical
definition, so what would the practical difference be? Motive
Either not sought out/ignored/or rationalized away
o
Rebellion
is when I know a truth and ignore it, or rationalize it away
§ Ignoring isn’t most of what I think
we do though, rationalizing it is:
§ Most common:
ð “God hasn’t convicted me”
ð On the surface, that may sound fair
ð Anyone buy: adultery?
ð I had more people come to me this
week saying, “I never thought about speeding as sin…I’d always rationalized it as…”
ð And yet, we’re going to see, there’s
sexual sin we’re OK with in the church
ð How about Stealing? We need
conviction there?
o
It’s
like with my kids, right?
§ Childishness – doing things they need
to grow from and out of
§ Rebellion – clear direction ignored,
or rationalized away
o
Why
would we think we’re so much different?
§ As children of God, why?
§ How we view God in these moments is
crucial
ð Is God a loving patient Father who is
moving us out of sin. Or,
ð Is He an angry father who wants to
beat us and shame us?
o
Key
is (v:15) We use grace as a license. God owes us, we deserve…
· The Church
o
(1
Peter 2:1) “So put away all malice and
all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.”
o
What
is slander?
o
I’ve never studied this before, it’s the exact same
word Jesus uses
o
God views slander OR, disrespect in the sense of
blasphemy
§ (James
3:8-9) “but no human being can tame the
tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it
we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.”
§ The Imago
Dei
o
Does that make a difference
hearing it that way?
o
Where does this kind of
conduct come from?
o
(Mark 7:20-23) ‘And
Jesus said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out
of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
adultery, 22 coveting,
wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil
things come from within, and they defile a person.” ’
o
Normally, I slander because I want to look or feel
better than someone else at their expense
o
What does that look like?
§ He’s a
jerk
§ It’ one
thing to address an issue (i.e. it was foolish)
§ If it’s
disrespectful, it’s slander
o
Why does this matter to God? Because He’s holy, and
He wants His children to reflect His character for His glory.
o
Quickly, what might repentance in the middle of a
conversation look like? “I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair…”
o
I can do that if I see God as holy, if I believe
the gospel says’, “It’s ok you’ve failed, Jesus has succeeded.”
· Parenting
o
(Ephesians
6:4) “Fathers, do not provoke your
children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the
Lord.”
§ Discipline means a God-centered
correction, not angry retribution
§ Instruction means discipling –
teaching biblical truth
o
It
doesn’t say, bring them to church and let the pastors…
o
Discipline
of the Lord looks how?
§ As a fellow sinner, I rarely have a
need to be angry
§ I follow through with consequences
immediately
§ When I fail to be faithful, I’ve
vicariously told my kids this is OK
§ I don’t say “No” ten times then get
angry, I exasperate (provoke) my children
§ Then, I actually punish them for my
sin
o
How
you view God…
o
This
fall we’re going to have a Men’s Parenting Morning
§ Look at God’s plan for Men as
shepherds of their home
§ Jesus as the perfect Shepherd
§ We’ll give you some tools to work
with
§ And we going to show you no matter
who you are God will use you
· Marriage
o
Turn to (1 Corinthians 7)
o
Again,
we’re good with no adultery, but we’ll se God has a rich plan for marriage we
sometimes pus to the side
o
READ (1 Corinthians 7:3-5) “The husband
should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her
husband. 4 For the
wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not
have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves
to prayer; but then come together
again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of
self-control.”
o
(v:5)
“Do not” – imperative, that’s a command, exactly like, “Do not commit adultery”
o
Deprive
– defraud, rob or steal
o
from
your spouse physical marital intimacy. UNLESS…
o
Mutual
consent
§ Jewish tradition let the husband
announce a cessation
§ Paul is saying (6 whole chapters)
abandon your rights
§ So it’s about serving
§ This is agreed upon
§ Scripture gives equal rights to both
spouses
o
Why?
§ Satan can get a foothold
§ Self-control
o
Do
you realize this was one of the first gifts God gave to the human race in the
garden, and He said it was good!
o
I
believe very strongly that this is a part of the two becoming one flesh
§ Why?
§ Look back to chapter 6, verse 16
o
I
understand there are (especially as we get older) medical reasons.
§ But, have you made any attempt to
remedy them?
§ There are several options now for
both genders
§ I’m not here to be crass, but I (and
the Elders) want healthy marriages
§ See me afterward if you’d like more
input
o
Maybe,
you’ve never really seen this before, but now that you have, how will you
respond?
o
Are
we as indignant over our own sin as we are others?
o
It
does not mean we condone sin, it simply means we can now have a gracious
response to sin
o
That
is why:
· Jesus is
the answer, not doing better
o
Gospel-driven
sanctification
§ CROSS CHART
o
I
sweat what I thought little sins as well as the big ones
o
Bridges,
Respectable Sins
o
What
am I asking God for in prayer regarding my sanctification?
o
The
answer is a culmination of the preaching at LEFC
§ Not just ONE Sunday
§ War against sin
§ (v:19) present your members…
§ Saturate yourselves with the Word
§ We displayed a Big God
§ Preach the gospel to yourself
§ Many ways of ramming home truth into
our lives
o
God
is not looking to condemn us, but free us
§ (Romans 6:18)
§ I have the freedom to obey because of
who God has said I am in Christ
o
I
started last week with God’s holiness, because our lack of victory usually
stems from our view of God being too small
Where to
start in such a big topic
· Ask the Father to show you one area
you’ve been ignoring
· You see:
· Today is the day, “because God, being rich in mercy, because of the great
love with which he loved us, 5 even
when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…”
· Let’s PRAY
· O Jesus,
o
Your
name is excellent, your glory is high, your compassions unfailing, your mercy
tender;
· We bless You
o
for
the revealing, invitations, and promises of the gospel, for in them is pardon
for rebels, liberty for captives, health for the sick, salvation for the lost.
· We come to You Father in the beloved
name of Jesus
o
Would
You press you image on our souls?
o
Raise
us above the smiles and frowns of the world, regarding it a light thing to be
judged by men;
· May Your glory be our only aim, Your
Word our only rule
· Make us to hate that which grieves
Your Holy Spirit,
o
To
be mindful of worldly joys we idolize
o
To
shun a careless way of life,To hate evil
o
To
respond with love to those who hate us, Be gentle and patient toward all
o
And
work in us not simply a profession of faith, but a display as well.
· All for the sake of Your great Name
· Amen
[1]
Patterson, R. D. (1999). 1480 סוּר.
(R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke, Eds.)Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Chicago: Moody Press.
[2]
Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New
Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
[3]
Ibid.
[4]
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., &
Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon
of the New Testament and other early Christian literature. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
[5]
Ibid.
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