Announcement: 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace podcast, where we celebrate and explore the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Waking Up to Grace podcast can be found on every major platform. And now here's.

Lenny: 0:16

Lenny, welcome to the podcast everyone. In today's episode we will be looking at the question are Christians responsible for their actions? We will also be looking at what responsibilities we might have as Christians and what role we play in God's sovereign will. In my last episode I concluded that God is not punishing Christians. It is important to realize that punishment may change our actions, but it will not change our desires.

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Even under the first covenant, god was pleased with those who served from the heart. It wasn't just going through the motions out of fear that pleased Yahweh. It was desiring to please him and looking to him for guidance. Under the first covenant there was still a law to keep, and reconciling grace had not come to the world yet through Christ Jesus. When the Lord gives us faith in Christ Jesus, we are made right with him. He paid the penalty for us so that we could have unbroken fellowship. If our Lord says we are right with him, we should believe it. We no longer pay a price to God for our sin, but is there still a price to be paid? Does being reconciled to God mean that our actions are always pleasing to him? Does that mean we should just go on with our lives, assuming no responsibility over our actions and just figure God will intervene whenever he sees fit.

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If God is sovereign and 100% in control of everything, then what do we have to do with anything? Why even pray if God's will is always done, some might ask, and I believe it is this question that leads us to the part that we play in all of this. If our Lord has all the power to accomplish things, to work out all things for his good purpose, then wouldn't that make praying the only real solution to every problem? Think of the other side of the argument. If things were somehow up to us, then why would we even pray at all? If our will could somehow override the will of our sovereign Lord, then we need to get to work. We may ask for a little help along the way, but we would ultimately need to rely on ourselves. The point of this episode is not going to be an argument of free will versus predestination, but rather to get to the point of what we are responsible for as Christians and what we need to rely on our Heavenly Father, for Many use witty one-liners attempting to bring the sovereignty of our Lord down to a more comfortable level.

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I think everyone has heard the condescending insults that have been hurled, saying God is not an evil puppet master. We are not robots. I think this is the only way many of us can cope with the fact that we don't have control over our destiny. But is this a healthy view for the Christian Will, downplaying the sovereignty of our creator? Give us more peace when things get tough? Does faith in our human abilities produce the fruit of the Spirit?

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I can understand why some are put off by the idea that the concept that God is 100% sovereign can lead us to a place where we assume no responsibility for our actions and turn off our brains to what the Holy Spirit might be leading us to or revealing to us. I think anyone who has experienced the work of the Holy Spirit would testify that there was something that we do. God gives us hands, feet, brains, etc. For a reason right. The scripture doesn't teach us that the Spirit of God does things for us. It rather teaches that spiritual things are done through us. So how in the world do we reconcile the fact that nothing can happen outside of God's will, but some of our actions as Christians do not reflect his will? If the Holy Spirit leads us to all truth, why do we still argue about doctrines with our brothers and sisters in Christ? If we have the Spirit of God guiding our ways, why do we still make terrible decisions, and why did the apostles have to teach their churches how to act?

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I don't think we can fully wrap our heads around how our Creator operates, but I don't think Yahweh is asking us to either. It's not about understanding His every action. It's about trusting His every action. When we doubt his ways, we fight against the nature he has given us. So what does our Lord teach us that we do need to know? If we do not understand our abilities and limitations, how can we know how to act? How do we go about serving our Lord if we don't fully know how he operates within us? If you've pondered these questions as much as I have through the years, I think this episode will really help you. I hope you stick around to hear the insight that I have to share with you, and I hope this helps you as much as it has helped me. I truly believe that all of the deep questions and subjects I've gone over so far can be best understood through the simple analogy given to us by Christ Yeshua in the Gospel of John.

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We'll be using the English Standard Version of the Bible for our study today. Starting in John, chapter 3, verse 3, we read Jesus answered him Truly. Truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Then in verse 6, he says that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that. I said to you, you must. Is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that. I said to you, you must be born again.

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When we think of birth, we think of an infant coming into this world helpless and fully dependent on its parents for all things. It did not choose anything not to be born, not to be hungry and thirsty or to need a diaper change. The infant instinctively knows that it needs something, so it cries out. Its mother and father provide for all of its needs. All the infant has to do is cry out, and mom is right there feeding it. Sometimes dad knows it needs a change before it cries out and takes care of that too. Other times the infant might cry out just to see if it can get some attention and maybe mom and dad see what's happening and let it cry out until it learns to stop. They know it already has what it needs. Sometimes the infant will even cry for no reason at all, doesn't even know why it's crying. The infant learns to love its mom and dad because of their love for it.

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What role did the infant play in this scenario? How much of its works and efforts helped it along the way? Christ Yeshua further illustrates this point in John, chapter 15, verse 5. He says I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. I believe that this is what our role looks like as Christians towards serving our Lord and pleasing him. This is the true responsibility that we have as Christians. If you want to call it that, I think you would agree that we can hardly call this a responsibility, but would do better to call it an internal instinct.

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Peter describes this spiritual miracle in his second epistle. 2 Peter, chapter 1, verse 3, reads His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them, you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. Did you catch all of that? He has given us all things through the knowledge of the Lord. What he is telling us is that the gospel is all we need. We have everything we need in Christ to live a life pleasing to our Father in heaven. Why do you think that might be so important? What is it specifically about the gospel that allows us to have everything we need? I think there are plenty of ways we can answer this question, but among the most important would be that we are reconciled to God. If we do not have knowledge of this, how can we know that he is always going to be looking out for us? How do we know we can trust him if we are not right with him?

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Peter continues For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing. They keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Peter is giving us instruction here on how we can learn and grow and develop in our new identity in Christ Jesus. These are things that will come naturally to us as we mature in the faith Yahweh has given us. It is very interesting what Peter says next. This affirms all the more what I said about understanding how right we are with God. Peter says For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

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Understanding and holding to this must have been as hard for many at that time as it is for many in our times, because Paul just came right out and said it In 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 20,. He says Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, god making his appeal through us. We implore you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. I think it is clear that understanding that our Lord has brought us into an unbreakable fellowship with himself through his son, christ Yeshua, must be essential to our spiritual growth. It is most certainly the foundation that we must build on.

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So what does it mean to trust in the Lord? What is the most important thing that we need to trust about him? I would say we need to trust that he keeps his promises. Do you believe you have been reconciled to God or do you believe that you are a work in progress? Based on the passages we just looked at, is it not clear what the apostles believed about this? So when we have the correct knowledge of our Lord and his finished work on the cross, we know we have been given life. We trust that Our knowledge of him also teaches us about our identity in him. I will get into that more in the next episode, but right now let's dig into the topic of responsibility some more.

Lenny: 9:51

We have discerned so far that our role is about that of an infant. The more we depend on the Lord, the better off we are. When we are born spiritually, we depend on him by nature. We now want to please our Lord. We have the Spirit of Christ Jesus dwelling within us. He comforts us, counsels us and teaches us what we need to know. So why do we still do stupid things? Well, simply speaking, just because depending on our Father comes naturally now doesn't make us no longer prone to sin. We're still human beings and we are living in a world surrounded by what is contrary to our nature. We still have tendencies and habits that we had prior to our spiritual birth as well. The power of sin should not be taken lightly, but then again, either should the power of the Spirit of God Most High.

Lenny: 10:38

I personally believe that if we are struggling to depend on our Lord, we should pray that he enables us to depend on him. Yeah, it sounds crazy, right? Depend on him in order to depend on him. That's how humble we can become as children of God, and I see no harm in this whatsoever. In fact, I think it's the healthiest way to be.

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I think Paul was conveying this view in his letter to the Romans Romans, chapter 12, verse 2. Here Paul starts by saying Be transformed, earlier. We heard him say Be reconciled. These passages both describe what God does to us as Christians and what is the secret recipe. John 15, verse 5. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. We need to look to the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing. We need to look to the vine. The vine is the producer of our fruit. When we try and produce fruit on our own, it does not work. We stop our fruit production when we lean on our self-offer.

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Pride is likely our biggest enemy. What is the opposite of humble? It would be proud, wouldn't it? What quality did Satan possess that made him most wicked Pride? If we were to take pride in anything as Christians, what would it be?

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Paul helps us in his letter to the church in Corinth by letting us know 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 30. Paul writes he is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. So, getting back to what our role and responsibility is as Christians, we learn how and why we bear fruit, and we have learned that understanding just how right we are with the Lord is essential to our growth. Maybe you're still not convinced and maybe you just want to see a little more evidence. Why don't we look at one more passage before we move on with our study? Let's hear a little more from our Savior and Lord Christ Yeshua.

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Matthew, chapter 13, verse 1, reads and great crowds gathered about him, said he got into a boat and sat down and the whole crowd stood on the beach and he told them many things in parables, saying A sower went out to sow and as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose they were scorched, and since they had no root Verse 1. Do you have an idea what Yeshua is saying in this parable? Well, the good news is that in this case he tells us exactly what he meant. Matthew, chapter 13, verse 8.

Lenny: 13:51

Hear, then, the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty and in another thirty. Are you starting to see how important understanding what Christ Yeshua did for us is? It is those who hear and understand that bear fruit. To be clear, there is only one scenario here that describes someone who is born of the Spirit and has received Christ Yeshua. When you received Christ, you became the seed that landed on good soil. You are born of Spirit when you understand the finished work of our Lord and believe it.

Lenny: 15:05

If we do not have reconciliation, we have nothing. We trust him once and we are saved forever. But how can we live an abundant life and bear any fruit if we still think God Most High is counting our sin against us? If we believe God is angry and punishing us, we cannot believe we are reconciled. If we believe we can be in and out of fellowship based on our actions. We cannot believe we have been reconciled. If we are reconciled when we trust in Christ Jesus, how can we be unreconciled when we sin If we have to ask God for forgiveness? What did Christ do so we can believe we are right with God? We can believe that God is not counting our sins against us and we should. We are now free in Christ.

Lenny: 15:44

According to Paul, we went from slave to sin to slave to righteousness. We read earlier that Yahweh gives us everything we need when we trust in his son. But what about when we do sin? What about how we affect others in the church when we sin? We are reconciled to God, but we can still cause much harm to ourselves and others, can't? We In the church? Christians can still be a bad influence on each other. Should we look at our scriptures to see what guidance we are given by the apostles to help us with these type of issues? I think we should too. We can really benefit from the wisdom of the apostles in our spiritual journey. I believe these guys speak right to the heart of the Christian. We may not find ourselves in these exact situations, but I think most of us will have had similar experiences in our lives If we are living ignorant of the Spirit.

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These passages will teach us discipline. If we have people in our life struggling with these things, we learn what we can do in response to help them as well as to protect ourselves from stumbling or falling with them. Paul warns and encourages us about these types of things in his letter to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, verse 12, paul writes Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you. That is not common to man. God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape on your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

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Truth sets us free and error puts us in bondage. When we begin to fall into sin or, even worse, begin to take pride in our sin, we put ourselves into bondage. This would certainly be what Peter was trying to prevent when he said that those people had forgotten that they had been cleansed for their sins and that's why those things were occurring. Our Lord set us free from sin and yet we can still live like we are slaves to it. How silly is it to imagine a free person continuing to act like a slave?

Lenny: 17:38

Let's dig into our first example of how Paul the Apostle dealt with a case of sexual immorality in his church. 1 Corinthians, chapter 5, reads it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife, and you are arrogant. Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you? For, though absent in body, I am present in spirit and as if present, I have already.

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The first thing we should note is what Paul was against here was pride. Paul saw this as a pride problem. Our Lord has not left us unclear on what sexual immorality is. The truth is in the text and it is not a bad translation or a corruption of the original language. There was a problem with pride then and there's a problem with pride now in the church. How it should be dealt with has not changed. Our scriptures do not need an update and Christianity doesn't need to adapt to our culture. Christianity will never mesh with worldly culture. Nothing has changed and nothing going on in the world is new in any way. No Christian will be set free by lies. We need to hold to the truth if we want to live free, the way that God designed us to be when he called us into his love.

Lenny: 19:07

Paul saw this man as a Christian and his actions toward his behavior displayed his love for the church. That is the truth I need to say. As a believer in fulfilled eschatology, I believe Satan has been destroyed, but at this time he was running wild. He had been cast out of heaven and was now on the loose doing what he did best. I believe later on, in Paul's second letter, we learn that this guy was a Christian.

Lenny: 19:29

There was something that Paul figured would work about sending this guy out into the crazy, satan-ruled world that would set him straight. He didn't figure this person needed good talking to. He figured God needed to deal with him. By this I don't mean God punished him, to be clear. Paul believed his exposure to the wickedness and evil that was going on out there would cause him to wake up and come back to remembrance of the love that our Lord displayed to him through Christ Yeshua. This experience was going to allow the Spirit of God to teach him and discipline him so that he would not continue in those desires.

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One definition of discipline is training that molds, shapes and perfects. So we gain self-control through discipline. One definition of discipline is training that molds, shapes and perfects. So we gain self-control through discipline. In other words, we become disciplined through discipline. Punishment changes our actions for a while, but discipline changes our desires. What do you think God is more pleased with, good desires or good actions? Do you think you can fool the one who can see into your heart?

Lenny: 20:27

Getting back to this passage, did you notice that about this person Paul said so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. The word spirit here is translated from the Greek word pneuma. Two definitions I've looked up are as follows. In mouses is defined as wind, breath, things which are commonly perceived as having no material substance. By extension, spirit, heart, mind are commonly perceived as having no material substance. By extension, spirit, heart, mind, the immaterial part of the inner person that can respond to God. In Strong's it's described as a current of air, that is, breath, blast or a breeze, by analogy, or figuratively, a spirit, that is, the rational soul, by implication, vital principle, mental disposition, etc.

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I must admit, this word has gotten me hung up on the meaning of the passage more than a time or two, but the thing we have to remember here is that spirit does not mean eternal life. It has nothing to do with eternal life. The day of the Lord was going to be a great and terrible day of judgment. It was something many of them were going to live to see. I think in the proper context, his spirit being saved would refer to his mind being renewed so that he would not cause himself to stumble, but be prepared and remain equipped for the coming judgment. This could also save his physical or temporal life by keeping him in the loop on the signs that would show them the day of the Lord was coming soon. Otherwise he might have found himself right in the middle of it all. We also have to realize that the second coming of Christ was synonymous with the destruction of Jerusalem and would bring the salvation that they were waiting for. His spirit being saved could also refer to his faith being strengthened or preserved for the day of salvation. There is much mention in the scripture of persevering, staying strong and holding to the faithfulness of Christ in preparation for that day. Bottom line, the word spirit is not talking about eternal life. So we can conclude that he is a believer and Paul is not saying he could lose his salvation because of these actions. Paul never once suggests such a notion.

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Continuing on, paul says has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Paul explains here why this is such a problem for their church. This would not remain an isolated problem if they didn't take it seriously. It would spread into the whole body. Paul continues I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people, not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters.

Lenny: 23:17

Since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard or swindler. Not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. Purge the evil person from among you. So we see some very interesting insight here. This certainly confirms again that this was a person that Paul considered a brother.

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The church in Corinth must have felt the same way. I think we can get a clear reading on that, don't you? But there are some other very notable things being said here. Paul is saying it is not their place to judge outsiders. He's saying that they don't need to be judging non-believers for their actions, because God will be judging them. Christians are not told to correct and judge those who do not have Christ. Those outside the church who take pride in their sin will be dealt with by God. It is the responsibility of the church to keep this sinful pride out of their gatherings in order to shame those who are in error. God is not punishing Christians, and his wrath is not on them. He's not counting their sin against them, but rather the church ought to be making a judgment about these people so they might be delivered from their bondage.

Lenny: 24:29

It seems that our Lord has put the church in place for this purpose. In turn, the judgment of the church would teach the person acting evil better discipline. That would at least be the desired outcome. Would this approach work on the non-regenerate? Not at all. Paul's approach only proves that he had faith in this guy. He knew that this person knew better and he understood that he had the Spirit of God to counsel him. It was faith in the Spirit of our Lord that allowed Paul to believe that the situation could be worked out by simply expelling this person from the church for a time.

Lenny: 24:59

When he refers to the person as evil, it strikes me a bit contrary to how Paul might address a believer. But I don't believe that he meant the person was evil at the core, but rather that they acted and displayed evil and that their actions were certainly evil. This guy was not acting in line with the gospel or the spirit of God, but rather fully indulging in the flesh. That is why he said earlier you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. Paul figured that purging this man from their fellowship would destroy the grip that sin had on him.

Lenny: 25:28

As we read in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, it sounds like it worked 2 Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 5. Now, if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure not to put it too severely to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him, for this is why I wrote that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive what I have forgiven. If I have forgiven anything has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would. Is it just me, or does it seem like Paul just used Satan to bring this believer back to walking by the Spirit? It seems Paul was very familiar with Satan to the point that he used him as a tool for God's purpose, with Satan to the point that he used him as a tool for God's purpose. I do not propose that Paul in and of himself produced such wisdom, but that God had given him a real gift when it came to grace. It is no wonder he left him with a thorn to keep him from becoming proud.

Lenny: 26:36

I want to mention, on the scope of keeping things in their context. I do think we need to be praying about exactly how to approach individual situations like these if they were to rise in our gatherings. There are several factors to consider here, one being that Satan was destroyed at the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem. You might not be there yet in your understanding, and that's okay, but Satan wouldn't have a role in any of this at all if you have that theology understood. But another thing to consider would be that these people were probably really close, I mean really living together and constantly gathering in the Lord. I'm not sure we have gatherings and worship close to this today, at least not here in America. Most church buildings are so large that you can attend weekly and not even get to know anyone. If you don't have a close relationship with somebody and are not gathering and sharing fellowship regularly, you're likely not going to get the same results.

Lenny: 27:27

I don't recommend going around judging everyone that says they're a Christian. That would not at all be equal to what was taking place here, where they clearly knew that this guy was a brother in Christ. I highly doubt they concluded this by simply asking him if he was a Christian. They knew him well. I think it is more common today that we just ask somebody if they're a Christian, just take the answer at face value, but getting back into the scripture and continuing to explore whether or not Christians are responsible for their actions. So far, it seems that keeping the body of Christ encouraged and equipped and not causing others to stumble is something of great value in the realm of the Spirit. As we see, if God is not judging us like unbelievers, we need to help each other wake up. Sometimes, sometimes tough love is going to be necessary and we need to trust that the Spirit of God will do the work in that person's life.

Lenny: 28:15

When I think of this concept, there are a couple of events in our scripture that immediately come to mind. We often hear in our Bibles to remember the poor and take care of the poor. In Paul's letter to the Ephesians he wrote about this In Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 28,. He wrote Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. But then Paul writes a different instruction in his second letter to the Thessalonian church. Here he addresses idleness. This is clearly not in the same category as in need.

Lenny: 28:49

2 Thessalonians, chapter 3, verse 6. Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it. But with toil and labor we worked night and day. That we might not be a burden to any of you it was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. We see there that Paul is leading by example. He is encouraging others to imitate his behavior.

Lenny: 29:28

I think he clearly displays that a good work ethic is not only godly but can have a positive influence on others spiritually. Of course, we have to realize, then, that, in turn, bad work ethic or laziness will have a negative spiritual influence on others. Why would that be? Because those people become a burden on others. If a person will not carry their own weight, another will become ineffective to others by taking on their burden. Now you have more than one person suffering because of the fault of the one. I think it is clear that our Lord gave us two hands to work with so that we would use them. What excuse is there for laziness? Paul clearly lays out what is right by example. With toil and labor we work night and day that we may not be a burden to any of you.

Lenny: 30:14

This passage hits me especially hard. I feel truly blessed to have been raised by a father who had an incredible work ethic. My father sacrificed his body for the well-being of his family in order to not be a burden on others. If anyone could claim to have had a tough start in life, he would certainly have some rights here. I'm not going to get into the details of just how bad his situation was, but let's just say my father, as soon as he was old enough to drive, was faced with figuring out how to make it on his own. Many would have looked for handouts and expected others to help them. He could have certainly decided to live his life as a victim, as many are doing today. He could have certainly decided to live his life as a victim, as many are doing today, but instead my dad worked every waking hour of every day to fight against depending on others, to the point where he fell asleep for days and those who knew him thought he had died. Growing up, I saw this work ethic firsthand and in turn it shaped my life.

Lenny: 31:05

Those of you who work hard know that there is a peace and gratification when you use your hands that God gave you to fight for making your own living. I think it is important to realize that life in Christ is ministry. Hard work in Christ is ministry and is a holy and noble thing. All who are in Christ and Christ is dwelling within are living a life of ministry by doing what they were spiritually born to do.

Lenny: 31:28

In America, despite how incredibly ridiculous the people in power are and how badly those who have never earned an honest dollar in their lives want to ruin all that is good for their own selfish gain, we continue to be blessed with the opportunity to be able to work and earn our own living, thanks to the free market system that was put in place by the founders of our country. While some parts of our world are deprived of this opportunity, we will complain about it here. How many people in our country right now are willing to work day and night in order to not burden others? I think a lot of people call it a day after a five to eight hour shift and feel entitled to take the rest of the day off. Do those people deserve handouts from others who work tirelessly to support themselves. Some of you have likely been blessed to have a father like mine to teach you the value of hard work, but in Christ, our Father in heaven is teaching all of us this very thing through Paul, who is a direct messenger sent by our Lord. Yahweh used people like Paul to establish the foundation for our faith. Let's see how Paul recommend handling idleness in his churches.

Lenny: 32:31

Paul writes it sounds to me like Paul would not be promoting watching Netflix and gaming as an alternative to working for those who were in need. I think our society has been influenced by the people in power to think this way, and it's a very sad thing. It is one thing for those without Christ to fall for this, but those who Christ dwells in should be better than this. We should not be ignorant to what is going on around us and how our minds are being perverted by the latest media propaganda. When I read the text saying if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat and do their work quietly and to earn their own living, I see a clear message being sent People who do not want to make an effort to support themselves, but rather lean on others so they can live an easy life are not to be treated as somebody in need. Their problem is between them and God, and they need to be left alone so the Spirit can lead them to the truth about what they are doing and cause a desire to make a change. This is the work of our Counselor, the Holy Spirit. Should we depend on other Christians in the same way we depend on God? I see Paul saying absolutely not.

Lenny: 33:55

He ends this section with encouragement. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person and have nothing to do with him. That he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. So we have teaching about how we should treat the poor and we have teaching about who we should consider to be poor. We often discern for ourselves who we can help and who we are only harming by offering food and shelter. I think these things are obvious when we see them. We would have to lie to ourselves to fall into this trap, but lazy people will often talk a good talk when they become desperate. This behavior is not fair and it hurts the people who love them. This is clearly why Paul has to make a warning about this to the church.

Lenny: 34:47

The next passage we will cover is one we also covered in our last episode but we're going to look at it from a little bit different angle and how Christians are responsible to others for their actions. So far, what we have seen is that we affect each other the most with our behavior, and it's important not to burden and harm each other so that we can be strong in Christ as a church. When I say church, to be clear, I'm not talking about bricks and mortar. I'm talking about the people in our close circles who we know trust in the Lord and Savior. But our behavior does not only apply here. How would anyone take someone seriously who's sharing the gospel with them when they only take care of their own needs? How will anyone take a person seriously who shares the gospel while hiring prostitutes or living unfaithfully toward their husband or wife? This is not me calling you to be perfect. It's not my place to tell you how to live. You are free in Christ. Your salvation is not on the line. God is always on your side, but our sinful actions have consequences and the apostles teach us a lot in order to prepare us to properly deal with these situations in our own lives and how to treat others in order to actually help them.

Lenny: 35:51

Let's take a look at our next passage 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 17. But in the following instructions, I do not commend you, because when you come together, it is not for the better but for the worse. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. The statement being made here is powerful. Paul tells us that there must be divisions in the church in order for those who are genuine to be recognized. This is an excellent example of God working out all things for his good purpose. Our Lord operates perfectly well in the messiest of situations and he uses these experiences to teach all of us. He also shows us who we can trust in and confide in, doesn't he? Paul continues when you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat, for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry and another gets drunk. What Do you not have houses to eat and drink in, or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? So we see here that Paul sees this as a church problem. There's a problem within the body, and he's looking to resolve it within the body.

Lenny: 37:04

Skipping to verse 27,. We read 27,. We would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. People in the wrong here were not discerning the well-being of their brothers and sisters in Christ and, as a result, were being judged by those who were genuine in their body of believers. This is how the Lord was correcting their behavior. But this is only possible because the Spirit of God that was teaching all of them, the Spirit of the Lord, was also their promise of salvation that delivered them from condemnation.

Lenny: 37:56

We learn from Paul's letter to the Corinthians that we do not face a judgment directly from God in the form of wrath, like we would have seen prior to the new covenant. But Yahweh does discipline us, and these moments are not always comfortable. Being humble does get easier, though, with practice. I believe as we mature in Christ, we become more humble. This is God's design and his handiwork. The thing to remember when we experience these moments is that our Lord is doing this for us so that we can learn, grow and mature in the faith that he gave us. He's not angry and punishing us because we sinned. He's teaching us so that we can become more effective and benefit from his love more. I also believe we are being prepared for heaven.

Lenny: 38:36

It seems to me that we run into problems when we do not ask God for his advice and guidance, or when we do not follow what we know would be his guidance. The more we realize that we cannot do things apart from the vine, the stronger we become. If the Lord had not opened our eyes and given us his love, we would never have been able to do a single thing to please him. So we've most certainly been displayed the importance of knowing where we stand with God together. In this study, we learn that all things are built on the foundation of being reconciled to God and knowing that he is always for us and not against us. I'm excited to be diving into our new identity in Christ in my next episode and how important it is to know who we are in Christ, as well as how we learn about the depths of this new identity that we have. If we are to know how to act in Christ, don't we first need to know who we are? So I look forward to having you back on my next episode, and I hope you benefit from what I've been taught as much as I did. I do want to end this episode with an analogy that we see Paul using in scripture and that my wife Melissa made a connection to, regarding the information that we're looking at today and also leading into the next message.

Lenny: 39:43

For anyone who's married, this might really help, and even those not married will certainly gain from this as well. Imagine being married to a person who is constantly punishing you for your behavior and threatening to divorce you if you don't start acting right. Would you be able to serve that person lovingly? Would you be able to truly be yourself, or would you find it easier to act like something you're not in order to keep the peace? Would you be afraid to come to that person for advice when you fell into a struggle? Would you feel at peace and know everything is going to be okay, no matter what? Would you freely come to your spouse to ask for things that you need, or would you rather beg for forgiveness and spend your days trying to become right with them, or would you feel like giving up and just letting your spouse leave so that you could just be done?

Lenny: 40:29

Imagine this marriage is your marriage to Christ. Imagine that you see Christ in this way. Is this the Christ that you believe in? If your Savior fits this description in any way, shape or form, you need to join me on my next episode, and even if you know better, I think you're going to enjoy our next episode. But until then, be reconciled, my brothers and sisters. Do not believe the lies about our Father, but believe in the one whom he sent to bring us life.

Announcement: 40:57

Thank you for joining us today. This podcast is brought to you by Waking Up to Grace Ministries. You can visit our blog page, add comments or reach us privately from our contact form at wakinguptogracecom.