Latest / Crosswalk / Jesus Is Lord — Romans 10:4–9

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Jesus Is Lord — Romans 10:4–9 · Crosswalk

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Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow
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Him. You're listening to Crosswalk with Pastor
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Steve Winnery. Crosswalk is the radio ministry
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of Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities and it is our aim
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to lead you to the cross through the teaching
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of God's Word. So God says these are the commandments
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and we all know the Ten Commandments. Can you
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list them? How many of you can list the Ten Commandments
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just by memory? Raise your hands. Raise them
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high if you can. Look around you guys. How many
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of you can't? Raise your hands. So when you're
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talking about even about Christians They can't
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quote the Ten Commandments verse by verse. They
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can't even get the concept across, right? And
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so when I'm talking with an unbeliever and they
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say, I keep the commandments, I go, what are
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they? You know what they always say? You know
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what the first one always is? Love God with all
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your heart. Love God with all your heart, with
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all your soul, with all your mind, right? That's
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not in the commandments. The other one is, love
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your neighbor as yourself. That's not in the
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commandments. It's not anywhere near the commandments.
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Both those things are in the Old Testament, but
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they're not in the commandments. And so if you
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can't name them, how are you gonna keep them?
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And this is one of the points that I make with
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them. And then at that point, many times what
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they'll do is they'll go, I don't necessarily
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keep the Old Testament Commandments, I keep the
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New Testament, I keep the Sermon on the Mount.
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No, you do not, because what Jesus did with the
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Sermon on the Mount is he made the commandments
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harder, not easier. And so the Jews, We're keeping
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commandments out outwardly. So for example, they
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would never commit adultery outwardly. But Jesus
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says, if you look at a woman to lust after in
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your heart, you've already committed adultery
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with her. How about that? I've never murdered
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anybody. Jesus said, if you're angry with your
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brother without a cause, that's the source of
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murder. And so if you've done that, then you
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are equally as guilty as a murderer. And he just
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goes through a list of the commandments and shows
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how these guys are outwardly looking righteous,
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inwardly they are corrupt. Outwardly he says,
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you guys are like whitewashed tombs. You look
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good on the outside, but on the inside you're
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full of... corruption and decay and dead men's
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bones. And again he takes the commandments and
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makes them harder. This is not something that
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they should have missed because what the scripture
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says in the Old Testament in the context of keeping
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the commandments is you do these things and if
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you don't there needs to be a sacrifice. And
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so every Jew in the Old Testament, should have
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been into the New Testament times too, but every
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Jew, when they brought a sacrifice, they had
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to lay their heads on the head of this poor animal.
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And then in the Old Testament, the priest gave
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them the knife and then they slit the animal's
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throat. The priest would collect the blood and
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he'd take the body and do the things that you
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do with a sacrifice. But putting your hand on
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the head represented my sins going from me to
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this innocent animal and then I cut its throat.
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And that's what should happen to me because of
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what I've done. And so every sacrifice that was
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made in ancient Israel was showing them, you
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can't keep my commands. There always needs to
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be a sacrifice. And then Jesus comes along. and
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he is the sacrifice for that. So that's the Ten
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Commandments. And here's another thing. If I
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ever run into, and I've never run into anybody
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that could quote the Ten Commandments to me,
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if I ever do, I'll go, there's 603 more, do you
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know those? Because there's 613 commandments.
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The Jews counted them. So 613. And again, if
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you don't know the Ten, You don't know the 603
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rest of them. And so you got a problem with trying
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to keep the law and being righteous before God.
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And so again, you have that. When you look at
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this passage, look at verse four. Now let's go
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back to verse three. They being ignorant of God's
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righteousness, seeking to establish their own
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righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness
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of God. And then he says, for Christ is the end
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of the law for righteousness to everyone who
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believes. When you look at that word end there,
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it means the termination. Again, this is the
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difference between law and faith. So the Jews
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are on a work trip, and the word end means termination,
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the limit at which a thing ceases to be, always
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at the end of some act or state. but not of the
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end of a period of time, the end, the last in
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any succession of series, eternal, that by which
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a thing is finished, its close, its issue, the
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end to which all things relate, the aim, the
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purpose. And so basically when you're talking
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about the end, telos in Greek there, you're talking
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about the end of a series of events, you're also
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talking about the point, the end of it, the reason
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that these things were done. And Jesus is both
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of those things. He's the end of the series of
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events. So you have the law given, you have a
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number of other covenants given in the Old Testament,
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and then Jesus comes and he's the fulfillment.
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He's the lamb. That was slain to take away the
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sin of the world. He is the fulfillment of sacrifice
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He's the fulfillment of the law all of the law
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was pointing forward to a righteousness that
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was going to come Through having this relationship
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with Jesus and not a righteousness of that was
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going to come Because you did it on your own
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if you could do it on your own. Why do we need
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Jesus? Jesus didn't come to give us a set of
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rules and regulations. Jesus came to give us
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a brand new life. Jesus came to kill us and give
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us a brand new life. When we come into a relationship
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with Christ, what we were dies and we come back
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alive again and we've got a new spirit within
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us. God is doing a work from the inside out instead
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of what the Jews were doing from the outside
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in. And that's the difference between religiosity,
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church -going, and having an actual relationship
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with God. And you can tell when this is going
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on, when you get around people who actually know
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Jesus. That's what happened with me. I thought
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I was a Christian because I was a United States
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citizen and because I believed things about Jesus,
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about what he had done. Again, I knew about him,
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but I didn't know him. And so I knew things about
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him. Then I get in a room full of actual Christians
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and I'm like, these people are way different
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than me. There's something going on here. And
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then that was explained to me as we went through.
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What the Jews basically were doing was they were
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going through and they were looking at their
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own lifestyles and they were saying, this is
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good enough. I did this with my brother too.
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And it had to be 40 years ago, something like
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that. He came over to my house and I hadn't seen
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him in quite a while. kind of restoring our relationship.
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And one of the things I wanted to do was talk
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to him about Jesus. And he had this misconception,
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he's not a Christian, still isn't a Christian,
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but he had this misconception about his lifestyle.
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And when I said, Chris, Jesus came to die for
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your sin. We've all sinned, and I quoted the
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verses, all sinned, fallen short. And he goes,
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Steve, I'm not a sinner. And I sat there, my
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mouth, when things are going on in my mind, I
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can't hide it on my face. And so my face had
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to, I'm sure my mouth just went, because I know
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this guy. I've known him since he was born. I
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saw him stuffing cigarette butts out of ashtrays
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in his mouth. This is, I know him. I saw what
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he did to my sisters. I saw what he did to me.
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And I just grabbed him by the neck and said,
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yes, you are a sinner. No, I didn't do that.
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Because I wanted to reach him. And I said, Chris,
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have you ever done anything mean to your wife?
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Have you ever disregarded anything that she ever
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said? Have you ever done anything like that?"
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And he goes, yeah. And I go, that's sin. You're
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being mean to somebody. That's sin. And he goes,
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oh, I guess I'm a sinner then. Then we continue
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with the conversation. And what he was doing
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was setting up a different standard. That's exactly
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what these guys had done for being ignorant of
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God's righteousness. And that means ignorant
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of the righteousness that comes from God. It
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can mean that. the idea that God gives you righteousness
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when you come into a relationship with Christ.
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But it's also talking about the fact of God's
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righteousness himself, his holiness, his purity.
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They're ignorant of his holiness and his purity
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and his unwillingness to put up with our impurity.
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When we look at other people and we compare ourselves
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to them and we go, that's pretty vile. You could
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take that and multiply it probably a million
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times and that's how God is looking at the whole
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race of humanity. That is vile because he's absolutely
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pure. There's nothing unrighteous about him.
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So every one of my failures is a blaring failure
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and yet he loves me and yet he wants me and yet
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he does his all to get me and that's why he sent
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his son Jesus. to do exactly that. And when I
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come to God in my situation thinking that God
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owes me, that again I have something to offer
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to him, that God's down through the ages been
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looking to me and going, gosh I wish I could
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have Steve Winnery because he's such a great
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guy and he's going to get her done. That when
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I'm thinking in those kinds of terms what the
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Bible says is I'm offering up filthy rags. to
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the Lord. This is a passage out of Isaiah 64
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6. We are all like an unclean thing and all our
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righteousnesses are like filthy rags. We all
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fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind
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have taken us away. And every time I quote from
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this passage, people who know me don't like the
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rest of what's coming because filthy rags is
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filthy rags. It's nasty. I have sisters. but
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they were all way younger than me. And I was
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out of the house by the time that they had the
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things that come upon women. So I never experienced
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that when I was in my house. But then I get married
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and I experienced the things that came upon my
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wife. And so there was a period of time during
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the month where radical things would start going
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on. Knives would come out. She wanted to knife
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me. This one time, you guys, this is what I live
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with. This is a cry for help. I was sitting on
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the couch this one time and Bobby looks over
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at me and she goes You know what if I let myself
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go I could stab you right now She goes you're
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not doing anything but I could stab you right
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now and I had already started experiencing these
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things, but that was a complete shock to me as
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to what she was going through. Whenever I think
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of this, it makes my stomach kind of boil. I
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think of a lady going through this stuff and
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your insides are doing what your insides are
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doing and it's just, oh, and I think it's why
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I'm a guy. I think it's why God made me a man
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because I don't know that I could handle the
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whole thing. And so the rags that are being spoken
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about here, what we do, or what my wife does,
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what my daughter did, was you go down to the
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store and you get these boxes of nice, clean
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things and this helps you out with that issue,
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right? And that's not what they did back in the
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first century or in the eighth century BC when
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Isaiah said these things. They used rags. And
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so it's like taking rags that have been used
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for that purpose, piling them up in your hands
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and coming and laying them out before God. and
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saying, God, here's my righteousness, accept
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it. And you know what? I've done my best to be
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compassionate over that kind of stuff, but you
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know what? I don't wanna talk about it. I don't
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even wanna think about it. I don't wanna talk
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about that kind of stuff, and I certainly don't
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wanna have a look at the... Stuff that comes
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from that. I don't want to see those things I
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don't want to have anything to do with it and
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that's coming before God laying this out and
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going God Here's my righteousness and God goes
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get that out of my sight. It doesn't belong in
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this place It belongs somewhere else in a trash
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can or whatever And that's what our righteousnesses
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are like. Most times we're comparing ourselves
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among ourselves. I don't know that you can get
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across, that I can get across to you, how impure
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we are before God. And so the only way that we're
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coming into a relationship with him is if he
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does something. The only way, because we're not
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going to be able to do it. The New Testament
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in Galatians 3 24 and 25 says therefore the law
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was our tutor to bring us to Christ that we might
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be justified by faith but after faith has come
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we're no longer under a tutor and that's the
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point that was being made that you're looking
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forward to something that's going to come. The
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law is teaching you that there's going to be
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an ultimate sacrifice. It's going to take away
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all your sin. It's going to be a new covenant
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with God, where he puts his law on the inside
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of you, and you're not trying to keep it from
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an outward position. God's already making you
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a person who wants to obey, who wants to follow,
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who wants to live for, and so on. And so again,
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a tutor. Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness
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to everyone who believes. God's standard in the
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Old Testament is not what's going to bring you
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into righteousness. Your own standard that you
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have is not what's going to bring you into righteousness.
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It's only the work of God in a person's heart
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that brings you into the righteousness. He talks
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about the fact that this is a straightforward
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thing. It was straightforward in the Old Testament
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with the Old Testament law. It's straightforward
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with this New Testament. relationship with Christ.
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He says in verse six, but the righteousness of
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faith speaks in this way, do not say in your
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heart who will ascend into heaven, that is to
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bring Christ down from above, or who will descend
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into the abyss, that is to bring Christ up from
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the dead, but what does it say? The word is near
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you in your mouth and in your heart, that is
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the word of faith which we preach. Now in the
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Old Testament, this is out of Deuteronomy chapter
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30, verses 12 through 14, and basically what's
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happening is Moses has gone through given them
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the commandments, given them the law, in the
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book of Deuteronomy, when he gets to chapter
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28, he talks about their future. And he talks
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about, 28 through 30, he talks about the fact
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that God is going to show himself to be real
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in the Jewish nation. And he's either going to
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do it by blessing them or by cursing them. And
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so you have about 14, 15 verses where God talks
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about, if you will follow me, if you will obey
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me, then you'll be blessed. You'll be blessed
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in the city. You'll be blessed in the field.
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You'll be blessed when you come in. When you
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go out, you'll be blessed in the day. You'll
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be blessed in the night. Blessed, blessed, blessed
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if you are following me. But if you turn against
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me, I'm still going to make it known that I am
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God and I am real. And if you turn against me,
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then you're gonna be cursed. You're gonna be
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cursed in the city, you're gonna be cursed in
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the field, you're gonna be cursed when you come
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in, when you go out, and so on. And about 44
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verses of cursings. So about 14 verses of blessings,
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44 verses of cursings. And then God says, and
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when this is all come upon you. and you have
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been dispersed among the nations, then I'm going
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to bring you back. Then Moses brings this up,
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where he talks about this commandment that I've
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given is, again, a simple thing. It's a straightforward
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thing. You don't say in your heart who will ascend
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into heaven. It's not you that's going to ascend
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into heaven. In this instance, he says, who's
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going to ascend into heaven? That is to bring
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Christ down. Now the point that Paul's making
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here is this has already been done. There's nothing
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that you have to do to gain this righteousness,
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to earn this righteousness. It's something that
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God did by himself. He's the one who sent Jesus
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from heaven. He's the one who brought the salvation
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to us. He's the one who made it happen. So I
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don't have to make it happen. This is a simple
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thing It's a straightforward thing and then he
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says or who will descend into the abyss that
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is to bring Christ up from the dead There's no
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work that I can do that Christ hasn't already
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done There's nothing that I can come up with
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I can't help him out and he's not here to help
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me out He's here to change me. He's here to make
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a new me Not to help me out. And I certainly
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can't help him. There's nothing that I'm going
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to be able to add to the work that Jesus did.
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And then he goes on in verse eight and says,
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but what does it say? The word is near you, in
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your mouth and in your heart. That is the word
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of faith which we preach. So when we go through
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and we talk to people about the fact that your
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own righteousness isn't gonna get you to heaven,
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and that the only righteousness that's going
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to be able to do it for you is the righteousness
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that Jesus gives. And so instead of God giving
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a command from the outside, he comes to live
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inside. Literally is what God says happens when
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you get saved. He comes to live inside and then
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your spirit comes alive and suddenly you have
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this part of you that is, it just naturally starts
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bringing forth fruit. Jesus compared it to that.
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Trees bringing forth fruit. Vines bringing forth
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fruit. Grapevines don't go. Grapevine. They're
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not working out. They're not sweating. They're
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not doing anything They're just hanging out in
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the ground and doing what comes naturally and
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we hang out in Jesus and it just comes naturally
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I don't have to work at these things. It's a
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work of God in my life Then he talks about the
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simplicity of salvation in verse 9. This is where
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we're gonna end It says that if you confess with
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your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your
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heart that God has raised him from the dead You
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will be saved For with the heart, one believes
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unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession
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is made unto salvation. You know what confession
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means? Literally means, say what God says. You're
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just saying the same thing that God says. And
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in this instance, when we talk about confession
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of sin, in 1 John 1 9, it says, if you'll confess
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your sin, he's faithful, and he's just, and he'll
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forgive you for your sin, and cleanse you from
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all unrighteousness. The word confess there means
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say the same thing as. And so when I'm looking
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at my sin, I say what God says about my sin,
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not what I say about my sin. What I wanna do
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is I wanna come up to God and go, God, there
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is a slight indiscretion that I have committed,
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and I would like you to consider overlooking
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this very slight indiscretion. God's not gonna
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respond to that. He will respond to it, and the
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answer will be no. What I have to do is I have
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to come to him and I have to say what he says
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God I did this thing. It was wrong. I know it
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was wrong and I'm sorry I know that you hate
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it Will you please forgive me and when I come
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to God on that level then God hears me and he
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sees me and he's willing to forgive at that point
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in fact He promises to forgive at that point
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But if I'm playing games with my sin, then God's
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got other things to do like convince me that
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I've actually sinned at that point. When you're
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talking about confession of sin, that's what
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you're talking about. There's a passage in Philippians
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2, 11 that says, every tongue should confess
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that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God
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the Father. The word Lord is kurios in Greek.
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It's a term that is used for master, but in the
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context of what Paul is doing here, it's used
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for God. You're confessing that Jesus is God,
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and this is where it comes from. The Romans had
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this ceremony that you had to go through, especially
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if you were in the outer Roman provinces. They
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wanted allegiance to two things. They wanted
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allegiance to the genius of Rome. That's like
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the spirit behind Rome, the Roman attitude, the
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genius of Rome, and they also wanted a confession
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of belief in the emperor as God. So Caesar is
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Lord So what they would do is they come into
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a village and they would set up a table They
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would put up a bust that represented the Roman
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Emperor and in front of that bust they had a
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little sensor It's a little bowl with hot coals
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in it and incense there You had to walk up take
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a pinch of incense Sprinkle it on the hot coals
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and you had to say Caesar is Lord and what you're
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confessing is that Caesar is God Caesar is a
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God You have this in the Old Testament, too,
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in a number of places. So one of the notable
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ones, everybody knows about this, Israel's coming
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out of Egypt, and the Bible says, God says, that
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what he was doing with the Ten Plagues was judging
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the gods of Egypt. And so he starts out with
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the Nile, because they worshiped the Nile River
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as a god, and he makes the Nile bleed. I just
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bled your god. They worshiped frogs. God goes,
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you like frogs? Here you go, and they had frogs
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everywhere frogs in their beds frogs in their
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up in their ovens frogs Everywhere until they
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got sick of frogs they worshiped bugs also And
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so there's a couple of plagues that have to do
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with the worship of insects of all things. They
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worship cattle, and so there were plagues on
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their cattle, and they worship Pharaoh as God.
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And so the very last plague that God judged ancient
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Egypt with was the death of the firstborn. He
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took their next God. He took him. And so... Again,
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you have this throughout ancient history where
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the rulers considered themselves to be gods.
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What Paul is doing and what the rest of the Christians
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are doing is they're saying, Caesar isn't Lord,
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Jesus is Lord. Over in Romans chapter 9 in verse
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5, Paul makes it really clear. He says, of whom
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are the fathers? He's talking about the Israelis.
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The fathers came from the Israelis and from whom?
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Again, Israel, according to the flesh. Christ,
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Christ is the word for Messiah, Mashiach in the
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Old Testament. In the New Testament, it's Christos
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and it means the same thing. Christ came who
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is overall the eternally blessed God. Amen. And
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so one of the things that we have to do when
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we're following the Lord is follow the actual
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Lord, the one that God says things about. And
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so it's not enough to know about the name of
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Jesus, it's not enough to know about the things
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that he's done, you have to actually follow the
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real Jesus, not the one you made up in your head,
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or not the one you heard about in a college class,
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not the one that people generally speak about.
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736 -2086. You can also look us up online at
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calvary -tricities .org Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities
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is offering two in -person training courses for
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those seeking to serve in missions or ministry.
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The School of Missions starts with 12 weeks of
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classroom -style learning and local outreach
24:37
in the Tri -Cities, Washington, followed by a
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10 -week cross -cultural mission outreach. The
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School of Ministry, this course is 18 weeks of
24:44
in -person learning environment, followed by
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a four -week mission trip. Find out more at calvarytrainingcenternw
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.com.