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Episode 60 – Holy & Acceptable / #Faith4TodayPodcast · #Faith4TodayPodcast

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Leviticus isn't just random rules, it's a road map to
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relationship. In this episode, we're going to
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explore how sin doesn't get punished.
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It destroys us structurally, rippling from individuals to
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families to cultures. The goal of holiness isn't
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really control, it's proximity and closeness to the Lord.
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Ultimately, Leviticus points us to Jesus, the one who fulfills
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the law and restores what sin fractures.
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If you've ever wondered what obedience looks like today, this
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conversation is for you. Let's go Welcome everybody to
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episode 60 of the Faith for Today podcast.
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My name is Matthew. I am your host and I am thrilled
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that you are joining us today. Whatever it is that you're up
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to, whether you're driving in the car, going on a walk,
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running on the treadmill, getting some workout in, or just
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cooking dinner for your family man, or maybe I'm helping you
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get to sleep. I don't know.
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Whatever it is, I'm glad you are listening or watching along.
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This podcast is designed to help you move beyond just inspiration
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on Sunday to integrating to the life of faithfulness to Jesus
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throughout the week. So we don't want to just walk
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away feeling good on a Sunday. We want to be faithful even on a
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Thursday. And to this, this episode, like
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all of them, we're going to recap a Sunday message, going to
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give you a little bit of bonus content taking you beyond the
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message and then respond to some questions we think people are
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asking or that we've received. So that's what we're getting to.
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And if ever you would like to have your question answered on
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the podcast from a Sunday message, there is a link on our
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website and on our sermon notes that's published every week.
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It's the same link. You can submit a question at
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anytime on any of the messages that we preach, and we'd love to
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be able to respond and help you grow in your understanding and
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deepen your knowledge of the scriptures.
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Well, this week we were looking at Leviticus 26 and more
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specifically the really big picture of Leviticus as a whole.
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And I wanted us to see that this book isn't just random rules,
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but rather it's this invitation into a rich relationship with
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God. Now, Leviticus is structured in
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a chiastic way or in a chiasm, and the Day of Atonement is kind
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of at the center, showing us that the heart of everything is
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really reconciliation and being made clean with God.
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The message, I think, of Leviticus is really clear that
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God dwells among his people. Sin contaminates what God loves.
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Holiness is God restorative work, what sin has damaged.
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We also see that Leviticus kind of hits every area of our life
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because there is no part of our life, of our existence, of the
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way in which we Live Today that God doesn't care about and that
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God hasn't designed in a way to flourish.
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Our bodies, our sexuality, economics, justice system, the
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justice system, worship itself. All of these things are a part
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of God giving us instructions and invitations to to rich
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relationship with Him and to experience the abundant life of
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God in every one of those arenas.
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Sin is one of those things that interrupts God's good order in
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our life, and sin is never really isolated to a single
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event and has a tendency to echo and reverberate wherever we
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never walk in repentance. It carries natural consequences
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built into creation. There are providential
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consequences to sin where God lovingly disciplines us, and
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there are societal consequences where where private choices
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multiply into public instability.
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But the goal of all of this isn't God trying to control or
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manipulate. It's God showing us the way to
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proximity with Him and to flourish in our life today.
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The rhythmic obedience was always about living close to a
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holy God so his presence could shape a flourishing people.
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And we also talked a little bit about justice and some of the
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tensions in our world today. And we look specifically at how
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Israel was commanded to treat the resident alien with both
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dignity and fairness. God left zero room for racism,
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hatred, or favoritism. Justice and dignity were never
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meant to be separated. The same time, we saw in
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Leviticus that worship belongs to God alone.
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It's not casual, it's not half hearted.
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It's clean, full heart, full soul given to God, His way.
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Holiness isn't called legalism. It's relational transparency
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that leads us to deal intimacy with Him and and if we're
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honest, who could ever fulfill all of the commands perfectly?
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Certainly not me, and most likely not you.
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I think that's why Leviticus points us to Jesus as the
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fulfillment of all of it. Alright, let me share just a
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little bit of bonus content with us today.
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The first thing I wanted to kind of extrapolate or talk a little
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bit more about is how sin is not merely punishment.
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There is punishment for sin, but it's structurally destructive
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for us. I said in the message that that
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God doesn't hate sin because he's so disgusted by it or in
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some self-righteous attitude looks condemningly down at sin.
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Actually, I I think sin is something that God wants to look
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compassionately on, yet is firm in its consequences towards us.
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Sin is something for God that he looks down at people and he
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recognizes that it's missing the mark of the good ordered way of
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living that God intended for us to live.
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It's when we live according to our own knowledge of good and
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evil. Sin has been the result.
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Sin is what brought destruction into the world.
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Sin is what brought misogyny into the world.
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Sin is what brought miscarriage into the world.
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Sin is what brought evil and sickness and death and decay and
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anger and violence and murder and mistreatment of others and
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slander and abuse. It's it brought all of the
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chaotic elements into our world. Sin is when we miss the mark of
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God's good way of living and we experience less than what God
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designed for us. Sin is missing the mark of this
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union with him and and it is structurally destructive.
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There's something destructive that sin kind of toxifies every
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area of our life and and there are spiritual components to
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where God cleanses us from sin. But there's an impurity that
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incurs because we have broken down the relationship and we
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have been marred and covered in the dirt and the nasty grind,
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the mud of, of sin. And, and I, I mentioned how
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consequences to sin show up in kind of like 3 mainstreams.
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They're natural, they're providential and they are
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societal natural. They're just kind of built into
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God's created order. It's a cause and effect, right?
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There's a natural consequence to living outside of the parameters
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that God has for us. There's just some natural
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consequences. You, you have providential
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consequences that come from sin, where God actively disciplines
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or permits outcomes that that are meant to bring us to a place
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of humility, repentance, and and calling on his name for rescue
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to allow us to come back into alignment with the things we've
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got in this. You see this often on a
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corporate level with the children of Israel throughout
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the story. But there are natural
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consequences. There are providential
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consequences and then there are societal ones, right, where
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communities absorb and multiply the damage or where society
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steps in to bring the consequence, as in the case of
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like breaking a law, there are societal consequences.
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There's a justice and A and a law that must be upheld through
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societal ways. And so when I say societal, I
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don't just mean that there are negative damages and
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repercussions in society, although that is true.
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And that is a part of the consequence that we see where
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we're broken. This just spreads all around a
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society or all around a family unit even, but also that society
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brings about consequence upon those who'd live in a way that
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is disordered from the order that God has established.
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So again, you murder. There are consequences that
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society brings to bear on someone who makes and commits
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that sin. There are natural things that
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occur. There are providential things
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that occur in in that scenario, and there are societal things
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that come into play in the consequences of sin.
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Because sin fractures the individual, it can destabilize a
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family and eventually corrodes a culture.
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Which is why I really do believe the most important thing for a
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church to do is not be community minded in the sense of just
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doing good in the community. Although that's a good thing to
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do, there's nothing wrong with that.
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That's a benefit. The most important thing for the
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people of God to participate in is helping bring people's heart
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back in alignment to God so that their life begins to live in the
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direction of God in an ongoing way.
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This is what we see again and again.
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And you can look at things like David and Bathsheba in the Old,
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in the Old Testament, Second Samuel, chapters 11 and 12,
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right? Adultery.
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And then he arranges murder and you see personal sin late with
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layered consequences in that story, right?
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There are natural consequences like the guilt that he feels,
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psychological burden that comes on.
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David, you see a breakdown of integrity and his leadership
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happens. There's family dysfunction that
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begins internally in David's own family.
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There's just natural ripple effects.
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But then there were providential circumstances, right?
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The prophet Nathan declares judgment.
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There's a child that dies as a result of the sin that David had
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committed. And then this idea that the
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sword will never depart from your house.
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In other words, David was a man of war and was not allowed to
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build the tap, the temple of God, God's temple, his, his, his
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house. That would be his son that would
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do that. There were societal
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consequences, right? And you find later this, this,
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this ongoing repeated pattern, right?
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Amnon assaults Tamar Absalom murders Amnon.
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Absalom leads a national rebellion.
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The Kingdom experiences this instability.
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There are ripples effects of the sin that David had committed.
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One private sin tends to ripple outward, body, soul, family,
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nation. You look at Israel's idolatry in
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scripture, national disobedience if you will.
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The sin is that there is covenantal unfaithfulness and
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idol worship. Like in Judges chapter 2
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specifically you see that it goes rampant where they 3
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generations from 4 generations from Moses.
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You have Moses generation, then Joshuah generation, then one
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more generation that stayed faithful to God but never passed
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it on to the next generation. And that 4th generation departed
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and grew up never knowing anything about God.
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And they gave their souls, they gave their worship, they gave
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their legions and loyalty to the Bales and the Asherith.
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Judges too says there were natural consequences.
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There was moral confusion that was rampant.
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A Judges chapter 21 said everyone did what was right in
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his own eyes. This is like Genesis chapter 6
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all over again where people just did whatever and there was
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nothing righteous, there was only evil happening on the
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world. It's kind of alluding to that in
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Judges 21, there was spiritual dullness and syncretism that was
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taking place where they were trying to marry God, worship of
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God, of the Bible with gods of their age and other cultural
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gods. And it was not working well.
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And and all of that begins to determine deteriorate in their
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own lives and their their providential consequences.
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There were societal consequences, but these happen
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again and again throughout throughout throughout the the
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Scripture. Now the next thing I wanted to
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share is kind of bonus content is this idea that repentance
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leads to remembering. Let me read it back to you in
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the Leviticus that we looked at on Sunday, Leviticus 26, if you
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remember, it kind of walks through like, hey, if you, if
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you do this, here are the commands.
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If you do this and this and this, then God's going to do
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this, this and this. And it's kind of like the the
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first if this, then that scenario in detail, which is
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kind of like paralleled again in like Deuteronomy 28 where God
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gives like a full list of blessings and cursings placed on
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our participation within or outside of the covenant
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boundaries that he set up. But but one of the things that
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is a part of this is in verse 40 of Leviticus 26, he says, But
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when they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their
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ancestors, then he goes on to say, and by their iniquity I
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mean their unfaithfulness that they practiced against me and
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how they acted with hostility toward me.
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And I then acted with hostility toward them and brought them
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into the land of their enemies. And when their uncircumcised
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hearts were humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,
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then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, I'll remember my
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covenant with Isaac, my covenant with Abraham, and I'll remember
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the land. I'll remember them, in other
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words, for their sake, I will remember the covenant with their
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ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in their
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sight. And so God's kind of giving this
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forecast and he's saying, hey, listen, when you walk away from
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the covenant, when you break the the covenant treaty that we
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have, when you, when you don't give me your whole heart and you
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start worshipping other idols, or you start mistreating or you
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break some of the commands and you're not caring for the
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resident alien or, or you are not bringing the tide.
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You're not caring for the Levite, You're not taking care
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of the sanctuary in the House of God.
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And all of the things that he lists in Leviticus 26 saying,
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hey, if you don't do this, this, this, and this, you're going to
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experience this, this, this, and this.
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But if you will repent, he says, if you will confess your
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iniquity and the iniquity of your ancestors.
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In other words, repentance is first recognizing and stating
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aloud the transgression that the the sin.
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And then there's not just remorse, but repentance involves
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remorse and kind of a renewed action.
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It's the the restitution, if you will, when, when, when they when
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they come and verse verse 41 says and they make amends for
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their iniquity. Making amends doesn't mean that
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you're paying off somebody to ignore a sin or to ignore
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something. Making amends is like, what do I
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need to do to bring proper reconciliation and make it right
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where I've left a debt, if you will?
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That's kind of this idea. Like there's something that's
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been missing. How do I reaffirm what's, how do
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I refill the glass that's been emptied?
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That's a little bit of what the language is kind of hinting at.
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And so he says repentance isn't just remorse.
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It's not just remorse and recognizing in clarity, with
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honesty what you did wrong. It's remorse.
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It's recognizing and acknowledging what you did wrong
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and it's making amends. It's so repentance is really a
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full turn in a new direction. It's doing something different.
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It's not continuing in the same thing.
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It's it's changing direction and moving.
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Not that you'll never do that thing again, but repentance is
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just a recognition and a returning back to God and doing
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something God's way, even if it's not permanent or perfect
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every time. I think one of the ideas that we
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get around repentance is that like we only need to repent when
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we're ready to do it perfect. And I think our intention isn't
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that rather our, our repentance comes because like there is
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remorse and a recognition that I've been doing the wrong thing
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and I want to go God's direction.
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I'm going to turn and start moving.
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And so I'm going to take a step to move in the right direction.
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I think that is proper repentance and something that
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God holds. And he says this, I'm going to
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remember my covenant with you and, and I'm going to do a
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little bit of a play on words here.
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But when you remember something, it's because it was dismembered
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first. In other words, there was a
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separation of its members that now is being remembered
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together. You cut your finger off, your
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finger was dismembered from your body, but then that you are able
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to remember it to your body while it's being sewn on and
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being healed and restored. That's a little bit of the idea.
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There is something in my union with God where I have missed the
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mark, I've sinned and now in my repentance that which has been
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severed or seared is now being remembered and re engaged,
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reconnected back with God and God says I will remember my
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covenant. What?
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What do we do at the Lord's Supper?
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We remember ourselves to the body of Christ.
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We reintegrate together as a body, as a family, as a unit, as
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in union with Christ because of his body broken and his blood
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poured out. And so there is a remembrance
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and repentance is God's provision for helping us get
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remembered within his covenant where God says, OK, repentance
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has happened. I'm going to remember you into
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my covenant, reattach you into my covenant, reengage you into
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the covenant blessings, and allow you to re participate in
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this covenant union that we have together.
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I don't think God expects perfection.
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He knows too much really. Like God knows all things, so he
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knows we're not going to be perfect.
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But I do think God expects us to return to him again and again
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because repentance restores our union with him.
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So I don't think we need to be afraid of repentance.
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I don't think we need to hide from repentance.
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I send him the message because God is holy and holiness is an
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invitation into intimacy. We need to be quick to repent,
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be quick to repent, be quick to acknowledge, Oh, I misstepped.
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Oh, that wasn't that wasn't on target with the life of God.
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That wasn't the way the people of God as a person in the family
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of God and incoming of God, I should have treated another
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human being. I should have posted about
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another person that I said the wrong thing.
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I did the wrong thing. Even if it wasn't entirely my
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fault. There's still repentance to say
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hi. That's.
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I want to reconnect back in union with God and not disengage
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from God. We need to be quick to repent so
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that the line of intimacy and the closeness that we can have
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with God can be restored. Repentance leads to God
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remembering His covenant with us.
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There's a restoration that takes place with in our interaction
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and within the relationship. Repentance repairs the
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relationship, sin damages the relationship.
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So repentance repairs the relationship.
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The last kind of extra thing I wanted to say in this reality is
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and to talk through is kind of the chiastic structure of
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Leviticus. I mentioned it kind of briefly
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at the beginning of our message, kind of how it's how it goes up
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one way and it kind of loops back and it crosses back down
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the other way. It's kind of like this, this,
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this big line that kind of XS, if you will, and, and, and
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Leviticus kind of provides a structure for something, but
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Jesus is the fulfillment of it and he provides the substance of
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the thing. Matthew 517 says that I do not
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think that I have come to abolish the law and the
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prophets. This is Jesus talking.
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He says, I've come not to abolish them, but to fulfill
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them. In other words, Jesus says, I've
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come to show you what it looks like to live in union with the
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Father and obey all of his commands.
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So Jesus was showing us in his life and lifestyle how to fully
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live out the law of God. The things that, and again we
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talked about how there is a moral law, a civic law and
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ceremonial law that Jesus came to fulfill and live those live
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those out. Acts 1339 says, and by him mean
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Jesus, everyone who believes is freed from everything from which
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you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
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And there's another part in Romans, I think it says that
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that we've been freed from the law of sin and death because his
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Spirit has set us free. So we've been freed from the law
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of sin and death because his Spirit has set us free into life
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and liberty in him. And so everyone who believes in
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Jesus, who trusts in him, everyone who has given their
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allegiance and trust and loyalty to the person of Jesus is freed
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from everything from which you could not be freed from by the
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law of Moses in Galatians 324 says it like this.
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The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might be
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justified by our loyalty, by our allegiance to him.
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So our faith in him, our trust in Jesus.
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And so the law that that we read in Leviticus that we've been
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reading, right? Like all of these laws that that
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are expounded on in the 10 commandments, all of the moral
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law, all of the civic law, all of the ceremonial law, the law
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were our tutor. They were instructing us to live
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in a direction to bring us ultimately to Christ, that we
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might be justified by faith in Christ.
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And this is what we see in Leviticus.
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It teaches us that sin requires atonement, that God is holy,
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that life must be ordered around his presence, that worship is
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rightly ordered, bodies are rightly honored, sex is rightly
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practiced, money is rightly stewarded, justice rightly
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administered, and community must be rightly shaped.
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That's what we saw in the laws of Leviticus in the New
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Testament. It doesn't shrink this vision,
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it deepens it and it globalizes it even where where external
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regulations of Leviticus become internal regeneration by the
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Spirit. The national covenant of the
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people of Israel has now transitioned into the global
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Kingdom of God. That the animal blood that was
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used in the Old Testament transitions into the blood of
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Christ once and for all. We see in the New Testament that
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Christ is the final atonement, that holiness is Spirit
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empowered, that the Kingdom fulfilled is is fulfilling
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Israel's calling. That jubilee becomes the
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salvation of God's people, that the temple becomes his people
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gathered together, that the sacrifice has become the cross
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of Christ, and that the law becomes written on the hearts of
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all men who are being renewed in the Spirit.
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So, So what started in One Direction, it's the pinnacle of
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the atoning work of Christ on the cross and comes back down in
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a new way through life in the spirit.
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Leviticus chiastic structure is is is exactly that.
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It crosses up and then there's a point in a pinnacle where it
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crosses back on the way on the way down.
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The the word chiasm comes from the Glee Greek letter chi, which
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is often symbolized symbolized with an XI.
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Found this really interesting. If you remember I've said
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before, X kind of marks the spot of love on the cross.
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X is the spot you have a cross to be tilted sideways.
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It's an X. And if you look at chiastic
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structure, it's like 1 long line and another long line, and where
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it intersects is the point where it would go up in One Direction
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and begin coming down in the other direction.
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X marks the spot. X is the cross of Christ.
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It's the symbol of an X, the letter chi.
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The that the chiastic structure of Leviticus is literally
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pointing us to the person of Jesus in the New Testament,
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fulfillment of all of those things.
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And at the pinnacle, at the turning point of it all is
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Christ redeeming work and atoning work on the cross,
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cleansing and purifying the people of God.
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Now you know when I say a chiasm, it's said the same way.
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It's like saying it one way and then saying it the same in
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reverse. So it would be similar to when
26:36
they would say things like when the going gets tough, the tough
26:39
get going. That's a chiastic statement.
26:43
It's a chiasm. When the going gets tough, the
26:46
tough get going. It's one way and then back again
26:50
the other way. Or said it this way, think about
26:53
let Leviticus kind of pointing towards the person of Jesus.
26:59
God became man in Christ and in Christ man can then come to God.
27:06
So God came to man in Christ and in Christ man can come to God.
27:13
It's this way and then that way. And it kind of makes this, this,
27:17
this loopy X kind of like if you think of like a, a remembrance
27:23
ribbon, right? It goes up one way comes back
27:26
another. And that pinnacle point that's
27:28
the the chiastic structure now in the New Testament in the 1st
27:34
century church, when believers would meet each other and it was
27:37
kind of underground, if you will, worth because it was
27:40
illegal to to kind of be a Christian and they were being
27:42
persecuted. If you were trying to figure out
27:45
if you were talking to a person of the way, often times in the
27:49
sand in the conversation, they were just kind of with their
27:51
foot dust a line and kind of begin a kind of a loop or a
27:56
single line on the on the on the on the ground.
28:01
And if the person they were talking to was also a follower
28:04
of Jesus, they would then take their their sandal and they
28:07
would make kind of an XA swooping X off that off that
28:13
very thing, that very first line.
28:16
They would kind of make a swoop and a connecting line, kind of
28:19
curl up and over and crossover their line, kind of putting an X
28:24
on the the ground. And, and because they kind of
28:28
looped it, it kind of would make what was known as the iksu
28:31
symbol of a fish, right? That that fish symbol, that
28:34
sharp open-ended tail crossing lines together and a loop kind
28:40
of connecting the two XS together on the ground, if you
28:43
will. It was this symbol that they
28:46
would use to identify themselves of being marked by Christ.
28:50
That X marks the spot where two Christians would stand and have
28:54
conversation and no one else would know that they were both
28:58
followers of Christ. It identified them some way.
29:00
Listen, it's the cross of Jesus Christ that we trust in Him and
29:05
his atoning word, that His atonement marks us as people of
29:11
God who have been made holy and acceptable because of the work
29:18
of Christ. So we fix our eyes on Jesus,
29:21
this X that marks the spot, this ichthus fish, this this Jesus
29:25
fish, as it's been kind of lovingly referred to through the
29:28
ages. But this idea that that we are
29:31
marked by the cross of Christ and it atones for us like the
29:37
blood put in an X on Passover over the doorpost in Exodus.
29:42
The blood of Christ kind of marks us, puts an X on us if you
29:47
will, so that we are holy and acceptable to God.
29:52
And when we act contrary to the new life of Christ, we can
29:57
repent and be remembered back in union with God and be marked by
30:03
people who are carriers of His presence.
30:06
We can experience the transforming work of God that we
30:10
are Spirit empowered. And that Spirit empowered in the
30:14
New Testament. As New Testament believers man,
30:16
we experience the fullness of Christ.
30:19
Leviticus set up the structure. Jesus became the substance of
30:24
all of it. And so much is happening in the
30:27
book of Leviticus that points us to the person of Jesus who
30:32
fulfilled it all. And at the point of it all
30:36
brings atonement and redemption for us, Making it possible so
30:40
that we can live as priests, that we can live clean and and
30:45
wholly before the Lord, and that we can live in rhythms of
30:49
obedience that allow us to be in close proximity in the Kingdom
30:53
of God. And when we are disobedient to
30:55
the commands of God, we can repent and be remembered in to
31:01
as as members of and one in union with God.
31:07
Even when sin misses the mark and causes to live out of the
31:12
union of God, we can repent and be re engaged in the
31:15
relationship, reconnected in our relationship with God.
31:20
All right, there are five questions I want to respond to
31:24
in today's episode. Question number one, is it
31:28
possible to live the good life that God has for us if we don't
31:33
read and study his word? Can't we just live our lives by
31:37
common sense? I think we can live our lives by
31:42
common sense and we should utilize common sense for sure.
31:46
But common sense or our own knowledge of good and evil will
31:51
not produce eternal life in us. It will not produce God life in
31:57
us. It will only produce our best
31:59
self-made life. And that while it might be
32:03
sustainable and successful by worldly standards, does not give
32:08
us entrance into the Kingdom of God.
32:11
And so I don't believe that we can live a life of union with
32:15
God if we don't ever get to know God.
32:20
And that I think it's really, really clear through Scripture.
32:22
We get to know God through 2 main ways.
32:25
We get to know God through his Word and through his people who
32:30
embody his word. So I think we live our lives
32:34
embodying the Word of God, living out the commands of God
32:37
that helps people understand God, then they get to know God
32:41
for themselves in His Word. So no, I don't think we can
32:46
experience the life of God without God, which means we need
32:50
to get to know God as we build relationship with God.
32:56
Question number 2. When believers miss the mark,
32:59
they sin. Does that hurt more than our
33:01
communion with the Trinity, with Father, Son, and Spirit?
33:05
Yes, it definitely does. We we talked a little bit about
33:08
it in the in the message and I definitely talked about it some
33:10
in today's episode. It definitely has ramifications
33:15
beyond just us and beyond just our relationship with God.
33:20
It can cause damage to other relationships.
33:23
If you remember in the message, the 2 two points that we talked
33:26
about, sin separates people in God and then sin damages human
33:32
relationships because no one really sends kind of in a vacuum
33:37
or in their own little bubble Many times, most times it
33:41
ripples to impact, to impact others.
33:45
I mean, we use the example of lying, how lying just has
33:47
natural consequences that break apart trusting relationships.
33:52
Well, that's that's damaging relationship.
33:54
That's not good. I don't think you have to look
33:56
very far in society and culture to see when trust erodes in
34:02
leadership and structures or in systems or in governments, how
34:06
that creates chaos and broken relationships within a
34:10
community. No one sends in a vacuum like
34:13
those decisions have ripple effects that deteriorate the
34:18
relationship. Take for example slander.
34:23
Slander doesn't just hurt your walk with God, it it's bearing
34:27
false witness about others. So when we say slanderous
34:32
things, when we gossip, when we lie like we are the all of those
34:36
things are represented in the the command.
34:40
Do not bear false witness against another.
34:44
That's not just lying, that's slanderously painting a picture
34:48
about someone's character besmirched and who they are
34:50
making them. You might be trying to speak the
34:53
truth about something, but then when you paint an entire group
34:56
of people to when you racially profile a whole group of people,
34:59
that it doesn't really relate to the slanderous or the, the
35:04
accusation that's being hurled. You, you are bearing false
35:07
witness against others. And, and that slander doesn't
35:12
just hurt your walk with other people, It hurts your walk with
35:15
God and it hurts your walk with God and it hurts relationships
35:19
with other people. So when we missed the mark of
35:23
union with God, of living the life that God has for us and
35:26
living in accordance with the commands of God, it hurts our
35:32
relationship with God, it hurts our relationships with others,
35:35
and it does damage to us as as well.
35:39
It hinders the life that God wants us to walk in from
35:43
flourishing and growing. Question #3 if Jesus fulfilled
35:49
the law, what does obedience actually look like for
35:53
Christians today, especially in areas like justice, sexuality,
35:58
or economics? Well, I think we have to first
36:01
look at the teachings and life of Jesus and then the teaching
36:06
of the apostles later in the New Testament.
36:07
So we see things about justice, right?
36:12
That justice is, is blind in the sense of it's not prejudice
36:16
driven, it's not financially driven.
36:19
It's there is a standard and that standard is consistent
36:24
across the board. There there's no moving the
36:26
standard, which is a lot of times what Jesus got onto the,
36:29
the the Pharisees for because they were being hypocritical.
36:33
They were holding standards for some people at one place and
36:37
then for themselves in a different place.
36:38
Like, like that doesn't work where we're trying to use
36:41
standards to crush people, to control people to, to make
36:45
people. That's not walking injustice.
36:47
That's not holding to the standard of, of God.
36:50
So we don't want to live hypocritically with others where
36:55
we hold ourselves to a standard, then they stand and we don't
36:57
want to, that's injustice. We don't want to, to have
37:00
justice systems that are like that.
37:02
We don't, we don't want that's not living the way of of the
37:05
Kingdom of God, sexuality. Paul writes explicitly on this.
37:10
Jesus talks about it, right, Like there are ways in which
37:13
what we do with our body, it matters what we do with our
37:17
sexuality, it matters for living a flourishing life.
37:22
Again, you can do things outside of the bounds of God and think
37:27
you're having fun or think you're doing it in freedom, but
37:31
you're actually doing damage to a life that God would rather see
37:36
you live a life of flourishing. I use the example of if you take
37:39
a Lamborghini that was built for Hwy. speeds and race tracks and
37:44
you take it and go mudding off roading, well, you're going to
37:48
do some things. There'll be some fun.
37:50
You'll see some movement and you're definitely having an
37:54
expression of freedom, but that freedom is going to create some
37:58
damage to your vehicle. It's not going to get very, it's
38:02
not because it's not intended for that.
38:04
And so when we take the things that God has intended and set up
38:08
as creator, and he said this is the best way to live
38:11
economically, best way to live sexually, best way to live with
38:14
justice. Again, every area of our life,
38:17
how to live politically, how to live socially, how to live as a
38:20
parent, how to live spiritually. And we take them into our own
38:24
hands, doing it our own way. And we call it freedom.
38:28
We're actually just doing damage to our own heart, our own soul.
38:30
So when it comes to generosity and giving and putting God
38:34
first, the Scripture talks about those things.
38:37
So, so there are ways in which we live out the teachings of
38:41
Jesus modeled by the life of Jesus and the teaching of the
38:45
New Testament to specifically to the, the epistles that were
38:50
written. Well, that's when we start to
38:52
integrate those things into our life.
38:54
We start living in the direction of God.
38:57
We live in his direction and that allows us to live in union
39:00
with him and in living with union with him, we experience
39:03
life and life to the full life abundant.
39:07
So you take each of those and it matters with what the Scripture
39:11
says and you, you look at how to integrate those things and into
39:16
your life. Question #4 how do we pursue
39:21
holiness without drifting into legalism or self righteousness
39:26
#1 we have to recognize that we need to grow in love for God and
39:31
intentional acts of loyalty before God.
39:36
So we want to live loyal lives toward Jesus, toward the Father,
39:43
toward in the spirit. We don't want to live in the
39:44
flesh. We live in the Spirit, the
39:45
scripture says and and we got to grow in love.
39:48
And and I said in the message, anytime you are doing things for
39:53
God, but you miss out on love of God, but you're stop loving him
39:58
with all your heart. So mind and strength.
40:00
Well then you're going to end up in legalism.
40:02
Every time where you start to control, try try to control
40:05
outcomes and you try to control other people's behavior.
40:09
That's when you start living with self righteousness.
40:11
When you start looking down your nose at other people's behavior
40:15
without awareness of their struggle or awareness of their
40:18
patterns or what God's working on their hard end, and you start
40:21
judging those things inaccurately or in a skewed
40:26
manner. Well, you're in danger of moving
40:29
in a direction of, of loyal of of, of of a lack of love and
40:34
living with legalism. I think we need to be what what
40:38
keeps us kind of pursuing holiness without drifting into
40:42
legalism or self righteousness is we repent often because
40:46
you're not going to do it perfect.
40:48
I'm not going to do so Repent often and quickly.
40:52
I love David's line and and Psalm 51 little created me a
40:55
clean heart renew a steadfast a steady faithful spirit in me.
41:00
Don't take your spirit from my presence, Lord, I cast me not
41:04
away from those things. I don't want to leave your
41:06
presence. I don't want to leave union with
41:08
you. I think we need to repent often.
41:10
We need to repent quickly and we need to point the finger never.
41:16
Like it's not about pointing it. I I think we need to use God's
41:21
word as a mirror rather than a window through which we're
41:25
examining other people. I think it needs to be a mirror
41:28
for our soul and not a magnifying glass that we put
41:31
under that we put someone else under.
41:34
That doesn't mean that we can't articulate when evil is
41:38
happening, but you can articulate that something isn't
41:44
holy without condemning fully the person or or without
41:50
condemning or being slanderous about their character.
41:54
You can say an action was unholy without trying to besmirched
41:59
them or add to it, Right? Like to say that was a mistake
42:03
without saying that was a mistake and they're an idiot and
42:06
therefore they're a racist and they are like, you don't have to
42:09
add that other stuff. You can just acknowledge that.
42:11
I don't think that was right. I don't think that was holy.
42:14
I don't think that was right. You can acknowledge that without
42:18
condemning others or, or, or putting someone in a place that
42:22
writes them off out of the mercy of God.
42:25
No, no. So we want to repent often.
42:27
We want to use God's word as a mirror and we want to, we want
42:31
to feed and foster our love and our passion for God.
42:35
I've heard it said that holiness isn't really a line that you
42:40
cross, or purity in our lives isn't necessarily a line that
42:43
you cross, rather, it's a direction you go with your life.
42:46
So. So if we're trying to figure out
42:50
how far can we get to a line of without crossing over into sin,
42:54
I think we're asking the wrong question.
42:57
It's not about having linear lines that keep everything neat
43:00
and controllable in our lives. Rather, holiness is about
43:05
pursuing God in honest, humble love.
43:09
Which means we're quick to repent, we're quick to give our
43:12
adoration and Thanksgiving to God, and we want our lives
43:15
moving in His direction. Not how far can I get from God
43:19
without crossing a line and still be good.
43:22
I think that transactional approach does not work.
43:27
Finally, last question, in a divided cultural moment like
43:31
we're in today, how can we uphold biblical justice and
43:36
dignity while still holding firm convictions about what is true
43:41
or the laws, what is legal? So I think this is a great
43:46
question and, and, and I think we need to understand a couple
43:50
things. First, we need to know what the
43:52
Bible actually says. I am continually, I was going to
43:59
say amazed, but honestly it's more disheartening for me.
44:04
I am continually disheartened at the number of people who claim
44:10
Christianity but don't really know what the Bible is actually
44:15
saying on subjects or or they don't even think biblically,
44:21
they're just thinking economically.
44:23
They're thinking American first values as opposed to biblically
44:29
first values, then national priorities.
44:35
It it it amazes me how many people who are like Jesus is the
44:39
only king but yet don't understand what it means to
44:42
actually live with loyalty to a king in that way.
44:48
So I think first we really do need to know what the Bible
44:51
actually says about subjects and things.
44:55
I, I, I, here's one that I see misquoted all the time.
45:00
The Bible says that you, you fed me when I was poor, you visited
45:04
me when I was there. You gave me a cup of cold water.
45:07
What you've done to the least of these you've done to me.
45:10
And then we kind of map that onto any kind of situation
45:15
socially that we think so. Well, let's take immigration
45:18
again. Well, you gave them a cup of
45:20
cold water. You visited them in prison.
45:22
You did these things. Therefore you're doing it for
45:24
Jesus. Actually, that's that's not a
45:27
mapping 1:00 to 1:00 because that text that Jesus is using at
45:32
the end of Matthew and in other parts of the Gospel where it
45:34
records Jesus's teaching on that, He's actually talking
45:38
about how you treat brothers and sisters of Christ who are out
45:43
sharing and spreading the gospel message.
45:46
How do you treat traveling preachers?
45:49
How do you treat the people? How do you treat the apostles
45:53
who are traveling from village to village bringing the good
45:56
news of the Kingdom? And if you mistreat them, Jesus
46:00
says you're mistreating me as my messengers.
46:03
So it's not just any least of these that we want to look at.
46:07
It's not just any no, I think there are still principles that
46:10
we can look at. Like doesn't give you permission
46:12
to be a jerk to anyone. But specifically what Jesus was
46:16
talking about in context was more specifically, how do you
46:20
treat brothers and sisters in the faith, not how do you treat
46:24
any human being at any point in time.
46:27
It's just not interpreting the scripture correctly.
46:32
And, and again, we, we toss those scriptures around so quick
46:35
and, and, and, and on one hand, it's like great, good, good try
46:39
on the Bible. In fact, there's a yeah, I'm
46:42
going to say it. There is a, someone in politics
46:46
right now on the left and his videos are viral all the time.
46:50
And he's kind of famous for like, here's what the Bible says
46:53
about this. And if you say this, this and
46:55
this, but yet you're not adding this, this and this.
46:57
And then he's using the Bible to score political points.
47:01
And, and it sounds really smooth and, and, and slithery sounds
47:05
really, really slick how he says it.
47:08
And it sounds really intelligent and almost biblical.
47:11
The problem is he's just taking every scripture out of context
47:15
and not applying it properly and not applying it across the
47:18
board. I think he maybe has some
47:22
desires that are. I'm just saying he's using the
47:25
Bible to dismantle certain elements of culture that I just
47:32
don't. I think he's using the Bible
47:33
incorrectly. I don't think he's interpreting
47:37
it correctly. I think we need to know what the
47:40
Bible actually says. I think that's really important.
47:42
Second, I think we need to properly apply what the Bible
47:46
says to those areas of life in a proper way.
47:50
I said on Sunday in the message when we're looking at how Israel
47:54
in a civic nation was being set up as a one God only nation, as
48:01
a God special people, the way God set it up in treating the
48:06
resident alien that we need to understand principles more than
48:13
try to find parallels. In other words, it's not an
48:17
exact one to one. Well, this is what God told
48:19
Israel to do in the Old Testament and therefore this is
48:21
what the United States needs to do exactly.
48:23
I That's not good biblical interpretation because the New
48:27
Testament fulfillment and parallel to Israel is an
48:31
America. It's not, it's the church.
48:36
So we first have to understand that we're not looking at
48:39
parallels, but we do want to see the principles that when we
48:43
understand the principle underneath the specific command,
48:48
we can then begin to filter and approach life through that
48:53
principle that helps us move in a direction that is God
48:58
honoring. Third, we have to have humility
49:04
in our cultural moments. We got to be slow to speak, slow
49:10
to get angry, but quick to listen.
49:13
We need humility, not hubris. We need humility, not more hard
49:25
hitting tweets. There's not a single post you're
49:28
going to make that's going to settle the debate.
49:30
We need humility. James Foer is really clear in a
49:34
divisive cultural moment. He says to the people who have
49:36
Do you know why there are fights and quarrels among you?
49:39
He says 2 reasons. One, because you're your pride,
49:42
your arrogance and your selfish desires.
49:45
They rage, war and you haven't learned to control them.
49:50
And when you live in pride, Scripture is really clear.
49:52
God resists the probability, gives grace to the humble.
49:55
So many times in our arguments, in our division, we're actually
49:59
living in arrogance. Therefore we are outside of
50:03
God's grace reaching us in those actions.
50:06
Those actions do not carry with it the healing, transformative
50:10
grace of God to bring about people into the Kingdom of God,
50:14
to help reconcile them back to the heart of God.
50:16
We are just out trying to score cheap points and say what we
50:19
want to say and we want to be snide, we want to be slanderous,
50:23
we want to be sharp tongued. We often try to to speak our way
50:27
about things and really we're just, we're not helping because
50:32
we're not walking in humility in any way, shape or form.
50:35
And so even when we want justice, we're not humble enough
50:39
to be dignifying in the process. And we're still, we're trying to
50:43
hold to a conviction of truth and what is legal and what is
50:46
light, but we're not actually doing it in a kind way.
50:50
And so we're, we're, we're being more condemning and talking
50:54
about how to uphold the law. And, and I think we, we find
50:57
ourselves outside of God's grace at work in, in US.
51:02
Fourth, I think we accept, I think we, we don't need to
51:07
accept current political ideals as fully representing or
51:12
implementing biblical teachings right now.
51:13
I, I, I don't think that there is anyone like it's not a
51:19
wholesale support of right, like not everything of the Republican
51:24
platform and party is wholesale and fully representing and
51:28
implementing all of the biblical ideas and teachings.
51:30
It's just not right now. Same thing with the left.
51:32
They are not now. I think there are more biblical
51:36
principles and motivations in some of the conservative things
51:40
than you would see in the liberal just in terms of amount
51:42
and quality of what will produce a more God honoring life in the
51:47
in the end. But it's not the only thing that
51:50
that eat. They're not so.
51:52
So what I was saying on Sunday is like, listen, as a pastor,
51:55
my, my job is not to try to speak for a political pundit or
51:59
or promote any specific party, but rather to speak
52:02
prophetically. That causes our hearts to be
52:06
drawn back to God and to the Bible to point everyone back to
52:09
the heart of God, not in partisan politics, which which
52:12
means that there are times that I will look and I will, I will
52:15
look at things in the Republican Party and those that that that
52:18
are conservative. And I'll say, guys, that's not
52:21
an attitude that reflects Christ.
52:24
And then I'll, I'll look on the other side.
52:25
So guys, that is not a policy that's actually going to promote
52:28
human flourishing because it is so contrary to the life of God,
52:33
so contrary to the way God has structured life.
52:36
It is so much off roading, man, you're going to create
52:39
destruction to the vehicle of life in that way, to the vehicle
52:43
of society in that way. And so we we need to be able to
52:46
say with nuance, with care, with with understanding that tension
52:50
exists to hold things that are simultaneous at the same time.
52:54
In other words, I can say I think ICE needs to be able to
52:59
execute and carry out the the laws within our land and at the
53:05
same time say they don't need to do it with unnecessary force,
53:09
brutality, or based on just suspicion.
53:12
That's causing more damage to the very people they are
53:16
proclaiming. They're there to actually
53:19
protect the laws and serve as an agent of the law.
53:23
Well, the laws are put in place in any land to protect its
53:27
citizens. And when we acted so, so we can
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hold two things to be true at once.
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I can say that, man, I, I want immigrants in our land and at
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the same time say I want immigrants to come in safely, to
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come in in a streamline way, to come in a simple way and to come
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in and legal. I think that's perfectly fair to
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say, man, I want them. I love that there are multiple
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languages represented and multiple cultures represented in
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our nation. You know why?
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Because I actually think it's a better picture of heaven.
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If you can't stand other languages, you're going to hate
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heaven. You're just going to hate it
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because every tribe, tongue and language is going to be present
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in and is present in the body of Christ.
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And so when I have a Kingdom first mentality, I, I don't get
54:13
upset about those things. I don't get caught into those
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things. So when you have the heart of
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God and you understand the Kingdom of God and, and it is
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the Kingdom of God first and my citizenship is there first.
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And I want to, my job is to not necessarily colonize the world
54:27
in an American way, but my job is to colonize the world in
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which I live in the land that I live in a, in a Christ oriented
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way to help people connect back to Christ.
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Well, that's my priority. That's my passion, that's my
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purpose. I think we can acknowledge it.
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And I tried to do my best on Sunday to acknowledge like the
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immigration, it's a real problem and it is chaotic in our world
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right now. It is heartbreaking.
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I can grieve with families who are having their lives disrupted
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because of choices that family members made to come into a
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country illegally. I can still grieve and say,
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gosh, that is so hard. That is so disheartening.
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At the same time, I can recognize that justice isn't is
55:14
a matter, so I can do it dignifying.
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I also can sit back and say not every person who is here in our
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country based on the color of their skin needs to be pulled
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over by agents and just questioned ad nauseam and and
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being arrested and then justified later.
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I think we can do better. I think they should do better.
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I hope that we become better in this process where they're
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trying to carry out the the law. I also can look a new nuanced
55:42
enough and say that not every ICE agent is is demonized like
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violent person or some rate like man.
55:50
Some of these men and women that they're just trying to carry out
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instructions that they were given, trying to uphold the laws
55:56
and and do it in a in a good way.
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And they're kind and they're benevolent and they're loving
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and they're all of those things. So just because it's happening
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in one space or by one person doesn't mean it all.
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Same thing is true that there are people in our country who
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have different nationalities who, who, who are here not only
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illegally, but they, they are, they are evil people who have
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done evil things and done irreparable harm both in this
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land and other lands. And, and I pray that justice
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would be served and things would be there.
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I can hold some sensibility into things.
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Scripture says that we can rejoice with those who rejoice
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and we can grieve with those who grieve.
56:31
We can hold both. So how do we live in a cultural
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divided moment upholding biblical justice and and dignity
56:39
at the same time? I think we have to 1st we have
56:42
to get a clear picture that people are made in the image of
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God and just from a human perspective deserve some
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dignity. And you can still rejoice when
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the truth wins out when justice is done.
56:57
You can still be glad that justice being done and at the
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same time want and long for justice to be done in dignifying
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ways without putting people whole categories into groupings
57:10
that aren't helpful and at times just blatantly racist in its
57:14
undertone and thought process. To support both sides of things
57:20
and to want compassion to win out and truth to win out all at
57:24
the same times again. People who commit crimes, they
57:27
need to face the consequences, but dehumanizing language isn't
57:32
needed nor is brutality required in most cases to carry out those
57:37
consequences. So we can hold a nuance and
57:41
attention of both and when we see biblically the right way to
57:47
move forward. And so in the message I outlined
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some of what that looks like around immigration.
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How do we apply that? How do we integrate that?
57:55
How do we even think biblically on the subject?
57:59
And there's a lot more conversations that could be had.
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And it certainly wasn't meant to be like a a final and a
58:05
conversation, but but hopefully gives us some things to wrestle
58:09
with and look at and not try to respond to emotionally.
58:12
Not try to respond to in terms of like the the dogmatic way of
58:17
thinking in a political sense, but gives us some, some, some
58:21
checks in our hearts to prayerfully take before the Lord
58:24
and ask the Lord to check our hearts and to bring us anchored
58:28
to Scripture in the way in which we go about living in this land
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because we are citizens of the Kingdom 1st.
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And he gets our loyalty and our love above all, above all else
58:42
and a God. When God's people flourish,
58:46
society flourishes around them. And so we want to flourish first
58:51
living God's ways with God's heart and knowing that has
58:54
ripple effects as we grow from from there.
58:58
Friends, thanks for watching. Thanks for tuning in.
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I hope this episode has helped you have some loyalty, some
59:04
trust in Jesus even late in the week beyond a Sunday.
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Hope it helps you have faith for today.
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We'll catch you next week, everybody.