Latest / Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self / Ephesians 5:1-14 - Imitate Your God, Not Your Culture

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Ephesians 5:1-14 - Imitate Your God, Not Your Culture · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk. Tabernacle Talk is a Bible study
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  podcast brought from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  I'm your host, Brian Self. We hope this podcast encourages
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  you to know Christ, grow in his word, and show his love to
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  others. Let's dive right in.
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  Welcome back to Tabernacle Talk. Today we are beginning Ephesians
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  chapter 5 and we're going to be in verses one through 14 today.
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  Lord willing, we'll we'll see where we're at.
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  So here Paul is talking chapters one through 3 was a lot of
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  here's what the gospel is. Here's what God has accomplished
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  in and through the work of Jesus Christ.
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  Here's what the Spirit has done in and through us and what the
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  promise of his presence and our life means.
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  He has made there to be no difference between Jews and
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  Gentiles. He has made us into one family
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  through Christ and He has good plans for us succeeding
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  abundantly, more than anything that we could ask or think.
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  That's all chapters one through 3.
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  Then chapter 4 He started into. So be unified with one another,
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  be patient with each other, forgive one another.
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  Christ has enabled us to do this through giving us gifts, and
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  those gifts are His word. We looked at the foundation of
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  the apostles and prophets, an inspired scripture that they
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  gave to us. And then you have evangelist,
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  those that start churches and then pastor teachers are those
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  that declare to us the word of God on a weekly or or monthly
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  basis that they are there for us.
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  And so God has given us all of that so that we can learn who we
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  need to be, that we would be strong in the faith, that we
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  would build up the body of Christ, we'd fortify it, make it
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  stronger, make it secure in the faith as well as building it up
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  and out, having there be new believers and new disciples of
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  Jesus. And we we do all of that with a
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  goal of becoming mature spiritually and emotionally and
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  and mentally. We become mature believers in
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  Christ. And part of how that happens is
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  through taking off the old actions and behaviors and
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  putting on new actions and behaviors, actions and behaviors
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  like that of Jesus Christ. So that's where we have been in
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  the 1st 4 chapters and now chapter 5, Paul tells us this.
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  Therefore be imitators of God as dearly loved children, and walk
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  in love as Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us.
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  A sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.
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  But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not
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  even be heard of among you, as is proper for Saints.
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  Saints means holy ones. Obscene and foolish talking or
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  crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks.
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  For know and recognize this, every sexually immoral or impure
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  or greedy person who is an idolater does not have an
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  inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
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  Verse number six. Let no one deceive you with
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  empty arguments, for God's wrath is coming on the disobedient
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  because of these things. Therefore, do not become their
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  partners, For you were once darkness, but now you are light
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  in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for
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  the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness,
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  and truth, testing what is pleasing to the Lord.
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  Don't participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but
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  instead expose them for this shameful even to mention what is
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  done by them in secret. Everything exposed by the light
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  is made visible, for what makes everything visible is light.
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  Therefore, it is said, get up, sleeper, and rise from the dead,
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  and Christ will shine on you. All right, so we're given here.
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  Be an imitator of God. Don't be an imitator of the
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  world around you in the way that they live and operate.
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  Let's look first at verses one through 5, as in particular
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  what's being contrasted is imitating God and imitating
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  those that are sexually immoral or greedy.
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  And these things are tied together and we'll we'll see a
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  couple reasons why. So verse one, therefore be
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  imitators of God as dearly loved children.
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  I don't know how many of you watching or listening right now,
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  you've got kids, maybe you've got grandkids or nieces,
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  nephews, something like that. Maybe you volunteer in kids
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  church and as you as you have kids, they will mimic you, they
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  will mimic what you say, they'll mimic how you do things.
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  It always cracks me up when there's maybe a I'll, I'll say a
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  more mature word that I use a little larger vocabulary word
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  that I normally use. And then when my five year old
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  son uses it, I'm like, what the world, you know, it's normal for
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  a 28 year old man to to say it, but for a 5 year old to say it's
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  just something totally different.
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  And and so we are to be imitators of God, like children
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  that are dearly loved by him that we mimic our heavenly
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  Father what he is, we are called to be.
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  So we imitate God and verse 2, we walk in love that every step
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  along the way, what guides our choices and our decisions is how
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  can I treat other people with the affectionate regard that God
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  has had for me? God loved me, God gave himself
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  for me. God provides for me.
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  God actually likes me and he calls me to do that step by step
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  as I interact with other people, with my wife, with my kids, with
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  my family members, with my fellow church members and with
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  my neighbors. How can I walk in love and it?
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  And it's not just like a random amorphous love, it's walk in
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  love. As Christ also loved us and gave
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  himself for us. So we do what we do, like Jesus.
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  And when Jesus gave himself for us, he gave himself as a
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  sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.
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  So that should call to mind everything that we learned in
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  Leviticus many, many months ago. Now the fragrant offering is one
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  that was done just out of Thanksgiving to God.
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  Like God, you are good. You have been gracious, you've
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  been kind. And so I am offering this
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  fragrance offering to you just to say thanks.
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  And so Jesus, he gives thanks to the Father, but he's also our
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  sacrifice. He is the one that we were
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  alienated from God. We couldn't be near him.
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  We were imperfect. To be in his presence would be
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  to invite death upon ourselves in our sinful state.
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  There was justice that needed to be met out on sin.
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  There was, you know, we were part of the Kingdom of Satan
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  under the rule of the Prince of the power of the air, as we
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  learned in Ephesians chapter 2 and all of that, Jesus
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  transformed Jesus was our sacrifice in every way.
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  He's our rescuer. He's our, he's our ransom.
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  He's our Redeemer. He's the one that is victorious
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  over Satan and the devils. He's the one that was our
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  substitute that died in our place.
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  The the sentence that we deserved.
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  He served in our place. Sometimes, sometimes people will
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  latch on to 1 particular what they call quote UN quote
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  atonement theory and they're like, OK, well, here's what
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  Jesus's death accomplished. The truth is this all of them
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  work together because all of the New Testament tells tells us,
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  gives us all of these pictures. And so you don't have to pick
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  like, OK, is Jesus our example of how we ought to live or did
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  he die taking the punishment that I deserved?
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  The answer is yes, absolutely. And also he conquered Satan and
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  so he is Christus Victor and also he is our Redeemer who
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  bought us back. There are just so many wonderful
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  things that could be said about Jesus Christ.
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  And what do you accomplish for us on the cross?
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  All of them are true. We serve an almighty God.
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  So Jesus loved us and he gave himself for us.
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  So we are to love others and to give ourselves for others, he
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  says, but here's what you're not supposed to do.
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  So do love, do imitate God, do follow Jesus's example, he says.
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  But sexual immorality, this would be any sexual activity
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  outside of the bounds of marriage.
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  So again, this is 2025. A lot of Christians will
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  sometimes harp on OK homosexual relationships and marriages.
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  This is sexual immorality. It's totally fine if I'm
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  sleeping with my boyfriend or if I'm hooking up with other
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  people, but I just really can't stand.
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  I'm really against as a Christian, you know, homosexual
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  relationships. No sexual immorality is anything
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  outside of what God has set up human sexuality to be, which is
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  one man and one woman and one committed covenant relationship
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  for one life. That's his plan.
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  And I want to encourage you. I don't know what state of life
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  that you're in right now. If you are married, have this
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  marriage be your very last marriage, no matter what your
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  previous actions might have been.
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  Choose. I will only ever be with this
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  spouse in an intimate relationship.
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  Not. Yeah.
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  So sexual immorality, anything outside of marriage, don't.
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  This might this might be kindergarten for some of you.
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  For some of you, this might be groundbreaking.
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  I don't know, don't have sex with someone outside of
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  marriage. So don't have sex before
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  marriage, Don't have extra marital affairs, even
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  consensually. If if you have divorced, it's
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  not just now like free for all. Continue to be sexually chased.
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  That is something that our world does not recommend to us.
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  It's not something that the world says that we should do,
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  but it is what the word of God says that we should do.
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  And there are plenty of examples in Scripture.
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  You can look at the life of Solomon.
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  You can look at the life of David.
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  You can look at the life of so many people who did not do this.
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  They didn't do it God's way, and they experienced such hardship
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  in their life as a result of it. And you can read through the
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  book of Proverbs. And even Solomon, as he's
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  reflecting on some of his behavior, he tells us about the
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  dangers of adultery and of sexual immorality.
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  So don't partake in any of that sexual immorality.
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  Impurity and greed should not even be heard of among you, as
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  is proper for Saints. Can I, can I say this real
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  quick? I I say that it's rhetorical,
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  like I recognize that I have a sadness that in American culture
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  today, we have almost no metric or normalcy to stating aversion
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  to greed. We think if someone can earn
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  money, they are entitled to all of it.
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  They are entitled to as much money as they can possibly amass
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  for themselves. That is not a Christian mindset.
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  The Christian mindset, like we learned last episode, is I do
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  honest work with my own hands so that I can share with others.
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  You look at Acts chapter 2 all the way through Acts chapter 5
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  and over and over and over again.
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  Excess funds that the early Christians had were given to the
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  church so that the needs could be met within the local church.
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  And I and I say that not as in like to beautify a building, but
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  to help out people, to spread the gospel, to take care of
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  those that were in dire financial needs, especially as a
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  result of becoming a Christian in a environment that was very
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  hostile to faith in Jesus and to following him.
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  Generosity is what defines Christian behavior, not greed,
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  not how much money can I amass. The Christian behavior is
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  whatever I don't have to have, whatever I don't need.
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  I ought to be giving away to others, to the Lord's work, to
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  help out the poor, etcetera, etcetera.
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  I fear that in American Society we are so committed to greed and
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  a love of money and a love of this, these finances will help
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  save and protect me again, not in a like, yes, the wise man
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  lays up in store for, you know, winter.
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  It's the, I think it's an Aesop's fable about the
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  grasshopper and the Ant. The Ant dutifully works all
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  summer long and then has food in the winter.
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  And the grasshopper just loafs around and then has nothing.
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  That's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying don't be
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  prepared. I'm not saying don't you know,
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  invest in retirement or something like that, but way too
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  often God has given us bountiful riches and we just squander
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  them. We just waste them or we hoard
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  them far more than we need. And God calls us to be generous
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  to others and to his work. So don't let greed be named
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  among us. And then verse four, he says
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  obscene and foolish talking or crew joking are not suitable,
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  but rather giving a thanks. Never let your mouth be the one
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  that's spreading dirty jokes. Don't don't be crudely joking
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  with others. That isn't a Christian thing.
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  That doesn't make you a quote UN quote.
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  That doesn't make you a prude for having that kind of
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  commitment in your life. It's God's word says this.
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  And so I'm going to do it. That's what we're called to do
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  that instead of using our mouth for that, we use our mouth to
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  give thanks. Wow.
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  I'm so grateful that this is happening.
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  I love this that's taking place. You don't have to be obscene or
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  crude in your language or in your words or in the topics that
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  you talk about. Verse 5 for no one recognize
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  this, every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person who is
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  an idolater, if you are greedy, if you're like this money, it is
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  mine, it will protect me, it will keep me safe.
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  Paul says that's idolatry. I idol worship says this thing,
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  this created thing is going to protect me or bless me.
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  That's what greed says. This money, this coin, these,
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  you know, this checkbook, these dollars, these numbers on my
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  phone or on my computer screen, these are going to protect me
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  and keep me safe. No, my friend, God is the one
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  and God can take it all away in a moment, or God can sustain you
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  as you are generous to others. But here sexual immorality and
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  impurity and greed, which is idolatry, people that center
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  their lives around those Paul says they do not have an
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  inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
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  This is one of the ways that you can tell, is this person really
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  a Christian? They say, oh, I believe in
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  Jesus, but they are a deeply immoral person.
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  They live their life in sexual promiscuity.
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  They live their life not within the bonds of marriage.
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  That person, even if they say they're a Christian here, Paul
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  says that's not a real Christian.
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  Doubt what they're saying about being a Christian.
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  They don't have an inheritance in the Kingdom of God.
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  And that's seen by their regular behavior, their regular life,
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  that this is something that they're consistently doing.
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  And then I think it's crazy there in in my context in
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  America, that greed is something that that here Paul says.
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  This is one of the ways that indicates, yeah, this person, at
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  least right now, they are showing no indication of being a
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  Christian, of being a child of God.
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  And you should doubt if that person has actually repented of
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  sin and turned to Jesus because right now they're not turning to
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  Jesus and they are loving their sin.
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  So that's really, really, really important.
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  We do these things because what it means to be a Christian is
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  not just to affirm like Jesus's existence or his death on the
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  cross or even his resurrection. The devil's know that Jesus is
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  resurrected. Just because you believe that
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  doesn't make you a Christian. What being a Christian is, is I
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  repent of my sin and I turn in faith to Jesus.
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  And so let us turn from these sins and then kind of in closing
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  today in in six through 14, Paul then just goes kind of bigger
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  picture. He says, let no one deceive you
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  with empty arguments. There are going to be people
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  that argue against that and they can say, oh, no, no, no, I can
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  be immoral, I can be greedy and it's totally fine.
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  He says, don't let anyone trick you saying that.
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  He says because God's wrath is coming on the disobedient
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  because of these things, God's justice is coming to condemn
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  sin. Verse 7.
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  Therefore don't become their partners.
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  Don't be a partner of the one that God's wrath is coming to
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  destroy. He says you were once darkness,
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  but now you are like in the Lord.
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  Who you are has changed. He says walk as children of
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  light, for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness,
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  righteousness, and truth. That's totally unlike
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  immorality, impurity, and greed. Verse 11, He says don't
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  participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead
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  expose them. There's probably an aspect of
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  church discipline that's mentioned here.
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  Like don't just allow this to continue on in the body.
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  You bring this to fellow believers first.
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  You go to the person you're like, hey, you shouldn't be
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  doing this, this is wrong. They refuse to listen to you.
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  You bring two or three others with you together.
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  You go to them and you're like, hey, you got to stop doing this.
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  This is wrong. This is sin.
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  This is against the word of God. And if they refuse to hear all
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  of you, then it goes to the church at large that then the
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  covenant members there together say, because of your refusal to
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  repent, you are not a member at this church.
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  This church is not going to tell everyone, oh, yeah, they're a
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  Christian. We're not going to tell that to
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  people. You might be a Christian, but we
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  have no proof of that through the way that you have been
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  living. So that could be one way of
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  exposing the unfruitful works of darkness.
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  I think there's also here a very personal application like in
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  James Five that we confess our sins to one another so that we
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  may be healed. We go like, hey, I go to my
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  friend and I'm like, hey, I'm really struggling right now.
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  I'm struggling with lust or I'm struggling with, you know, if
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  you're single, you go to someone else and you're like, hey, I've
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  been struggling. I, I need some accountability,
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  Someone that will just check up on me and be like, hey, are you
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  walking with the Lord? Are you walking in purity?
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  Are you not choosing to like, look at things or to be on apps
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  that might lead you astray? And into a bad place.
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  Have that openness, expose the sin to the light of fellow
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  believers, the light of Christ, and be like, hey, would you help
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  me? I don't want this to have any
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  part in my life. I want the inheritance in the
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  Kingdom of heaven. I don't want this in the here
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  and now. Would you help me to fight this?
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  So we expose the works of darkness, certainly as a church,
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  but I think personally we expose it and we shame it.
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  We distance ourselves from it to say this is not who I am, I am
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  not my sin. This is something that can be
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  put off. This is part of my old clothing,
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  my old wardrobe. This isn't my who I am anymore.
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  So we expose the works of darkness, verse 12.
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  For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in
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  secret. Don't glory and sin, instead
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  glory in Christ verse 13, Everything exposed by the light
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  is made visible, for what makes everything visible is light.
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  Therefore it is said, get up sleeper and rise from the dead
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  and Christ will shine on you. That as the light of Jesus, the
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  light of his word, the light of his Spirit, the light of his
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  people, the light of his church as it is shined on sin in my
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  life and in your life. We are able to experience
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  healing because that's what the light brings.
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  We think the light brings shame, and it does bring shame, but not
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  ultimately on us. It shames the action.
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  But you are not your sin. You are not.
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  Our world defines us by our sexual behaviors or attractions,
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  but that's not who we are. Those are actions.
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  Those are things that we choose to think or say or do.
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  Those are external to us. Who we are is people made in the
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  image of God and and if you're a Christian then you have been
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  bought by Jesus and the Holy Spirit lives inside of you.
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  So your sins not who you are. So shame the sin, get it out of
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  your life. Have the help of your brothers
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  and sisters and the Word of God and the Spirit of God and
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  experience new life through the Messiah shining purifying light
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  into your soul, and you can find healing.
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  I hope today would be an encouragement to you.
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  Really looking forward to the next.
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  Several episodes are phenomenal portions of Scripture in
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  Ephesians 5, but thanks for tuning in today.