Behaving (Part 2 of 2)

The believing and saying that Jesus is Lord will inevitably change the way we live.

But that doesn't mean were immune sending today on Truth for Life weekend. Alastair beg explains why we continue to battle sin, even after we been saved were in the book of Colossians, continuing a message titled, believing is I'm a Christian. I have nothing to worry about, and I'm going to have an eye and you know sometimes when I cheat on my tax return when I sleep with my girlfriend, unmarried, and when I showed up.

You said at people and enjoy these things.

Sometimes I just say to myself. It is so wonderful to be secure in Christ news for you. You're not secure in Christ because the security that is ours in Christ is not a security isolated from morality is not justification divorced from sanctification. It is that which sets says into Christ in a life transforming way.

Look what he says. Verse 21 of Colossians 11 she was alienated from God and your enemies in your minds. Noticing your minds because of your evil behavior, but now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death so you can go out and do whatever you please know to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation that the work of God within the life of the believer is to conform the believer to the image of his son there for our behavior will bear testimony or otherwise to the life transforming power of Jesus. Now there is a logic if you go back to chapter 3. There is a logic in this that I hope we will miss. It is our place. If you like, in Christ that establishes our priorities is because we have been raised with Christ, it is because we are hidden with Christ in God that we are then just set our hearts on things above, we are to set our minds on things above were the very epicenter of our existence has to have ideas about it, persevering effort about it that is fairness that that isn't casual and why was it just remind my words. But as I was reading my notes earlier this evening I thought I thought about my dog.

I am going about my dog a long time.

Some people think I don't like dogs is just is just something that I've created for for fun, but as I thought about my dog.

I thought about how he used to get you with such expectation after you had mixed his bowl of food.

What you couldn't say that he was different in any way, or that it was a casual glance in the direction it was it was an all-consuming expectation that something like that. Soon as you put it down there. That is the terminology that is used here in the life of the Christian. I want to know Jesus.

I want to learn about you Jesus I want to be like Jesus.

I want to is Peter says prepare my mind for action because you have taken me from where I was and you put me in a new place and you have given me new priorities and it is this then creates the prospect that is before me. What is the prospect verse four. Christ, whose Christ, is your life is your life. Why is it that you will not die. You go through the valley of the shadow of death, someone who pronounces that. But on that day, as Moody said, we know more alive than we were ever being what is our confidence that we will live in eternity that we will have new bodies. Christ is our life to me to live is Christ to die is gain. When Christ who is your life appears you're going to appear with him in glory, and over the day is coming when Jesus will be revealed for what he is to the astonished gaze of all mankind.

If paragraph one is living the risen life paragraph two is dealing with sin dealing with indwelling sin put to death therefore what is that, therefore, what, where, what is that, therefore, therefore what it ties you back to the first four verses actually ties you back to the fourth verse, the prospect of the appearance of Christ creates the incentive to prepare for his appearing. If your girlfriend is coming for the weekend trying to clean yourself up if you're a teenager. You get all that acne stuff I would go at it like a crazy person because you every is something about it. If your girlfriend is coming for the weekend.

There's no question but on Friday morning we waking up you like. Just call it said there's something about and so all Friday to the train arrives and the bus arrives or whatever you trying to get it all fixed in preparation for her appearing on Lisa's Christ is going to come and you must be prepared because Christ is your life.

The battleground of verses 5 to 11 his face, not in our own strength but in his mighty power is not an easy section because the thinking person says will look in verse three it says you died in verse five it says put to death. How do we figure this stuff out while in a sentence, we have died to sin in Christ. Sin no longer reigns no longer operates its tyrannical rule over the life of the Christian because in the words of Wesley.

He breaks the power of canceled sin, and he sets the prisoner free and in Christ as we are justified all of the guilt that attaches to our lives into our account is dealt with in Jesus he becomes sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God that sin no longer reigns and rules, but it still remains, and it still rages and therefore is the Westminster confession puts it, the Christian is involved in a continual and irreconcilable war and that war takes place on three fronts against the world against the flesh, our sinful nature and against the devil and the devil strategy is to bring what is appealing to us in the world to attempt and try us with that which appeals to the sinful propensities which remain within our lives, because although I have died to sin in Christ. Sin has not been eradicated from my life, and if it is been eradicated from your life. We should probably talk later on because you are in a unique position position and a nonbiblical position and certainly a very un-Pauline position. But if that were the case, why would he waste his breath in his pen in his going through here and starting up 1/3 of those put to death. Therefore, what belongs to your earthly nature. I say I don't have any of your liar. And if you've embraced a form of externalism that make you look really good to people on the outside.

You may only be concealing the darkness of your own heart and insight because all of us know what the Bible says is true is just whether we are prepared to bring our lives honestly into the search in gaze of the word of God whereby we are exposed and we know ourselves to be as much in need of the instruction of the second paragraph, as we are in need of encouragement of the force. Well I have to just go through this quickly.

What is the issue. Then, when Christ, but we are also in Cleveland. That's the problem, not Cleveland per se, but the fact that we live our Christian lives not yet in the position where we are free from the ravages of sin. It's very possible for us to adopt way of life whereby we are outwardly conformed to the Christian expectations, particularly of a community like this. If you're in a church like this for any length of time begin to find out what you're allowed to do what you're not allowed to do this.

Nothing is written down anywhere but is this the kind of consensus view and so you managed to tow the line and whatever may it way it may be I don't really know what they all might be, but I know I know they exist as much here is in anywhere else and you can begin to think that because you are outwardly conformed to these various little idiosyncratic die mentions of a local congregation that you're fine when an actual fight you're inwardly conformed to the world to see. Worldliness is not a list of things you put in the back of the church Constitution.

Worldliness is the orientation of our life's against God.

The real problem is that in our heart of hearts we so quickly orientate ourselves against God. The only way to tackle this and this is what Paul is saying here is to recognize that we need to bomb the runway of our lives so as to prevent enemy aircraft landing on that runway like Margaret Thatcher in the Falklands crisis many years ago now when she bombed she sent planes with the help of Ronald Reagan, blessing to bomb the runway in Port Stanley and the reason she wanted to use American and British aircraft along the runway on an island.

Britain owned was in order to prevent enemy aircraft from landing on that runway and taking up positions within the island, thereby preventing the ruling authority of Britain over it. Well the same thing is true here in the if you read all books. If you read the Puritans you know that this is referred to as the mortification of the flesh mortification of the flesh has a real ring to but it is intensely practical and make a dreadful mistake by thinking that I hear sure that's externalism a bed of nails will do it.

That's externalism know. We desperately need Jesus to come and invade our lives. The Holy Spirit to overwhelm us with this wonderful love and fullness, so as to create within ourselves the desire to do that which the word of God calls us to do. It said it II had hoped that he just by living life this stuff would settle down, you know, I thought I knew when I was 23 I thought. Goodness gracious. Maybe when you're 33, it gets easier than I thought. Well, maybe another decade I'll get this cleaned up and I understand why Mary McShane said I discover that the seeds of every sin known to man well within my heart every morning that stations all day every day. We need to learn not to underestimate the seriousness of sin to watch out for that subtleties for its insinuations to get it to the point of entry get it before it goes deep apparently have never never hunted for whales. I doubt that any of you have either. But the word is in hunting whales. If you're even allowed to do it anymore. The word is get them when they're on the surface because you never know when they're going to go deep and when they go deep. There is no possibility of getting the same is true with sin.

Listen young people and write this down. So I thought reconnection, so an action reply have so I haven't read my character saw a character Reba destiny every sin is an inside job. Every sin starts within because our whole life's are oriented in the direction of ourselves. Well, our time is gone is in it is just a daily battle. Look what he mentions what a dreadful list. You hardly want to go there. Do you sexual immorality, impurity, evil desires and greed, and he says all of this is idolatry because it is anytime you choose immorality or you engage yourself in impurity and in your lot wants to consume you and you pursue your evil desires and you become greedy it's it's just preparing yourself above God, and to prepare yourself above God is to make an idol of yourself and therefore it's idolatry.

He says it's in Congress verses eight and nine that's really say is wonderful. He doesn't say it's impossible that this should happen he says is incongruous that it happens so get rid of the stuff. What will anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, don't tell lies. Once again he comes back to first principles, why since you've taken off your old self with its practices and you put on the new self, and that new self is being renewed present continuous stands and knowledge in the image of its creator and he says just for our asset is be really clear about snobbery. Let's be clear about academic credentials. Let's be clear about whether your highborn or low born. Let's be clear about face and race in place. There is no greedy Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian city and slave. We Christ is all and is in all, there is no place in the Christian life for snarkiness that is related to your face, your place or your race what control did you have over any other exactly cut it out, of all places, the Christian church not organize, systematize, dramatize, externalize way just in an organic way to manifest a behavior that is unseen in any other place in the totality of a culture not in a club not in a society not in any kind of place other than amongst the people of finally� And what about the last paragraph, we can only see a work paragraph three is about putting on the right clothes of paragraph two is about getting off the old ones.

When you think the chosen and holy and dearly love people should look like. Therefore, as God's chosen people, who are these people live by, verse 11 is that the Jews are. You think Paul would've said that when you image you think time to know, Greeks, Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised. These people are the people are in Christ in every generation. Therefore, as God's chosen people, and I admire the Hasidic Jews. I actually do. I have far more in common with the Hasidic Jews with her with the things in their ears and that the curls I can like that I would try that if I had the chance.

Maybe good.

I look, but it's it's it it's something nice about and the clarity of the position 60.

Think of the beginning but they don't think of the form of the dome of the substance of the promises, but they don't of the Messiah, something that the shell wonderful sense. I long for Jewish people to come to Christ's easiest supposing parts. I said we going to do is make an impact on the side of Cleveland. So before you leave this evening if you're going to the Commons area. We only have them in small, medium and large. But we have these beautiful rules for you to where we like to wear them out in the community and every time anyone sees your logo or whole.

There is a parking easy and but that's not the clothing, the clothing is compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patients the practicality of verse 13 know you love it. Bear with each other but you see there's a lot of fanciful stuff in the Christian life is not about me and all I do love you guys and frankly were such an obnoxious bunch of people that just bearing with one another is a real plus in cannot ask you to think I'm terrific edges. Please bear with me.

Would you I'll be there with you to I'll try and forgive you if you're trying forgive me to understand her forgiveness is the standard of the Lord Jesus is forgiveness, which was total complete, no strings attached forgiveness that had nothing to do with whether we deserve it or not.

Forgiveness for the Christian is indispensable not only for our souls but also I think for our bodies. One day we will find out just how much an unforgiving spirit has contributed to many of the ailments that some of us endure when I failed to forgive you is because I've exaggerated the offense against me and I have minimized my offense against God and that he says in verse 14, and why don't we just get a big blanket and move will all get around to get inside it will get the blanket will pull it all around and all over all these virtues will put on love binds them all together in perfect unity or expose you to think of love as a solution in some kind of chemical dealer somebody will have an analogy from cooking.

I'm sure where there is substance in which everything else coheres and that is love in the Christian what what is there not to be challenged by in this.

What is there not to love about this. What is there not to realize that we are all strugglers on the sea of life.

When we find in this thing gives us the idea for supercilious lessor judge mentalism more unkindness there is no basis for any behavior in a nutshell is to be like that of Christ. Totally impossible unless Christ would come and live in us, which is of course what he promises to what we been listing to park to a message titled, believing this is Truth for Life weekend with Alistair Begg. Please keep listing. Alastair will be back in just a minute to close with prayer as we study what it means to have Christ like behavior. We have to study Jesus character. The Bible tells us a lot about the events that took place in his life, but Matthew's gospel gives us what might be the clearest insight into the heart of Jesus there, Jesus describes himself as being gentle and lowly in heart. This is the topic of a book or recommending called gentle and lowly, this book explores the heart of Christ for sinners. What does Jesus think of us when we try and fail and then try and fail again. Does he ever grow tired of us, failing to see ever run out of patience with our endless shortcomings. You may have asked yourself that question. This book answers the question that pulls back the covers so to speak, so we can better understand Jesus heart and his desire to save us from sin. The Puritans had a great understanding of this idea that they wrote at length about the forgiving power of the cross of Christ.

The book gentle and lowly includes many excerpts from Puritan authors who find these to be a great help as you process all of this.

Learn more about how you can request your copy of the book gentle and lowly. When you use the Truth for Life mobile app or when you visit Truth for Life.org. Don't delay this is the final weekend. This information will be available. We carefully select books here at Truth for Life books that uphold our mission to open the Scriptures every day to help those who listen to understand exactly what God's word says and what it means course, we do all of this with God's help. 1 Practical Way we can encourage you today is by sharing a Bible reading calendar when you follow the schedule online, you'll be able to crack through. As you read the entire Bible in one year. Find out more by visiting Truth for Life.work.

Now here's Alastair to close in prayer.

Father, help us to take to heart the Bible as it calls to us and challenges us. Help us in our own private lives known to you and to ourselves to take seriously the issues of sin to identify our own weaknesses. Help us to save it. David created me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. We ask with David how how can a young man keep his way pure and we hear the reply by paying attention to the Bible help us then to be in the Bible help us to be in the company of God's people, help us to keep short accounts with sin and help us to bear with each other to forgive one another and ultimately to love with that kind of compassion which Christ displayed in reaching out to us. We pray in his lovely name on them. Bob Lapine thanks for joining us. Listen again next weekend.

As we continue our series, Christian basics, Alister will teach what the Scriptures say about church membership and how it makes a difference in our spiritual maturity Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life Learning is for Living