announcement: 0:01

Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace podcast, where we celebrate and explore the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Tune in to the Waking Up to Grace podcast on every major platform. You can also listen to our episodes and read our full transcripts at wakinguptogracecom. And now here's Lenny.

Lenny: 0:22

Welcome back to the podcast everyone. We left off our last Roman study with Paul saying they were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They're gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them. That's Romans 1, 29-32.

Lenny: 1:03

And before Paul laid out all these sins on a silver platter he began with. Therefore, god gave them up, in the lusts of their hearts, to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever Amen. For this reason, god gave them up to dishonorable passions For their women, exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature, and men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God and that was in Romans 1.24-28., we determine in our latest studies that these passages are about non-regenerate mankind, not Christians, but Paul certainly writes these things to and for Christians for a purpose. Understanding sin is part of the gospel, and the better we understand sin, the more we not only understand grace at a deeper level, but the more we can live by grace and experience true thankfulness to our Heavenly Father. We learn from Paul that when separated from Yahweh, man becomes consumed in sin. There is no true peace, love, fulfillment apart from the Lord, only temporary satisfaction through sin that always leads to ruin and death. When the Lord is not in the life of man, he naturally turns to him or herself for guidance. Christians have a superior alternative to turn to, don't we? We have a higher calling. Yahweh is our God now. But in order to fully appreciate this and be guided in the right direction, paul does not hold back on teaching sin. We need to know darkness before we can see light. Did you know that this isn't the only letter that Paul uses this approach? Let's look at some other examples so we can gain an even better idea of the Apostle Paul's view on sin.

Lenny: 3:11

In Galatians 5.19,. Paul writes Now the works of the flesh are evident sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. In our Romans passage we read that because of their unbelief, yahweh handed people over to sin. Would you say that handing over to sin in Romans is similar or the same as not inheriting the kingdom of God? Is in this passage? I think it's the same thing. So in this passage, are those who will not inherit the kingdom of God Christians? Are these Christians who fell into these sins? And the answer is no. That's not what's going on in these passages. He's talking about godless people. If we look at the context, he's talking about godless people.

Lenny: 4:15

Why does Paul refer to sinners as godless people? Think about a Romans passage. And what happened when mankind rejected the Lord? When mankind rejected the Lord, he handed them over to sin and they became utterly sinful, didn't they, apart from God, where they have nobody to turn to, no glory to turn to. That's what's happening to mankind, according to our scripture. So does Paul again refer to non-regenerate man here in this passage? And I say absolutely. That's exactly what he's talking about. He's not telling Christians who fall into one of these behaviors for a moment or find themselves in sin, he's not telling them they're not inheriting the kingdom of God.

Lenny: 4:59

Is it not scary to imagine that many Christian doctrines apply these passages directly to Christians? You know, you put them up on a billboard or on the screen for the large congregation of people and they read this and they tell you Paul wrote this to you and this is what you have. You're not going to inherit the kingdom of God. But if these behaviors come from godless people, do we want to allow them into our lives? No, we see this as godless behavior and we shouldn't desire to have these in our lives, should we? These aren't pleasing to the Lord. These are things that the Lord does not like. In fact, he hates sin. But before writing this, paul wrote but I say walk by the Spirit and you. And then to remind them of grace, he adds. And then to remind them of grace, he adds but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

Lenny: 6:08

In Galatians 5.18, when we see ourselves falling into godless behavior or temptation, what would Paul recommend? He'd say walk by the Spirit. You know these Galatians were being fooled into a works-based doctrine. It was the law plus Christ. Christ says he fulfills the law and then all these people say, no, he didn't fulfill the law. You still got to be obedient to the law, the law of Moses. So what does that sound like? Sounds like they didn't believe God, doesn't it? Sounds like they're turning away from God's guidance and turning to their own guidance. Sounds like they're turning away from God's guidance and turning to their own guidance.

Lenny: 6:52

There's a law-based context to this, but the context of the law-based situation is that the law was fulfilled and Christians were no longer pleasing God by being obedient to the laws. The law was fulfilled in Christ. In fact, scripture tells us that it was by faith all along, and the author of Hebrews really drives that home. You were never made right by the law. You were made right by faith, said the author of Hebrews. It was by faith all along. Nobody was ever made right by the law, and Paul talks about that as well in his letter to the Romans, and we're going to dig into that. So Paul recommends to letter to the Romans. We're going to dig into that.

Lenny: 7:25

So Paul recommends to walk by the Spirit. What do you believe it means to walk by the Spirit? Have you ever considered what that might mean? What are the depths of that statement? I think it's actually quite simple. I think what he's saying is be guided by the Lord, seek the Lord's guidance. Guided by the Lord, seek the Lord's guidance. Seek to please the Lord, seek to honor the Lord, seek to give glory to the Lord in your life. Just like we've been reading throughout our study on these first passages in Romans.

Lenny: 7:56

If rejecting God causes mankind to become consumed in sin, what is the solution for non-regenerate mankind? What would be their solution to getting right with God? They'd have to believe right. They'd have to honor God, give glory to God, put faith in God, stop rejecting the Lord, stop rejecting Yahweh. Do we not have a similar solution to sin as Christians in our daily lives? Solution to sin as Christians in our daily lives Is there not sort of a parallel to rejecting God even in our Christian lives? Do you think that Christians find themselves turning away from the truth of the Lord, turning away from his guidance, maybe even reading scripture with their own ideas in mind and not really seeking what the Spirit is teaching them in the Scripture? Maybe reading the Scripture with the views that you already have from church in your mind rather than seeking what the truth is in Scripture. Is that possible that maybe we're not even seeking His guidance at all at times? And what's the solution? Seek his guidance right, pray for his guidance.

Lenny: 9:10

Paul writes again on sin. In his letter to the Corinthian church. He writes do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revelers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Ouch, that passage could come off quite intense, couldn't it? That's 1 Corinthians 6, 9 through 10.

Lenny: 9:41

It's really important to realize that Paul is writing to Christians about these things. Why does Paul keep telling Christians about godless people and their behavior? Why might Paul want them to understand that those people will not inherit the kingdom of God? I think he's talking about godless people and their behavior so that we can understand as Christians that we have a higher calling. If we see ourselves diving into these things, if we see ourselves doing these things and taking pride in these things, maybe we should be taking a step back and think, hey, I don't think I'm following the Lord's guidance here. I think maybe I'm turning to the flesh, turning to my own ways. That's a godless lifestyle. What am I doing? Why would I want to live that way when I have a higher calling? I am God's holy temple. Now I'm a new creation. I'm a child of God. I've been reconciled to God by the blood of Christ. I should be living thankfully right.

Lenny: 10:41

So when we ask ourselves, why might Paul want them to understand that those people won't inherit the kingdom of God? I think there's a few reasons. I think number one it would be to help them understand that they've been set apart from those things, they've been sanctified, in other words, set apart from the rest of the world. And number two could be so they realize that godless people need the Lord. They're slaves to sin, they're consumed in sin. You might help them out. If you share the gospel, god willing, their eyes might be open. You just never know. When you go to share the gospel with somebody, do you? And then number three could be so that they realize the damaging consequence of not walking by the Spirit. There's going to be suffering when we live godless lives as Christians. There's going to be suffering when we live godless lives either way, but as Christians, we have the spirit of God inside of us that we're grieving when we do these things. It wants us to do the right thing. It's concerned about us. You can bet that God's going to be up there doing work in your life. And when it comes to opening up the eyes of stubborn humans, it tends to take a lot and it's probably not going to be pleasant, is it To have to have our eyes open to be shamed by something? I mean that's not going to be comfortable.

Lenny: 11:56

But we often see this passage quoted, leaving out the next part and the next part's important After. Paul says all that about the sin and the non-regenerate. He says and such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord, jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. That's at 1 Corinthians 6.11. Unlike many very legalistic teachers of Scripture, paul constantly reminds believers of who they are in Christ. Paul's agenda was not to make them think they were truly godless or unsaved or out of fellowship with God. But if our identity in Christ is in these behaviors, should we not make every effort to rid these things from our lives? Should we not despise when we find these godless behaviors in our lives and seek guidance if we're stuck in something, seek guidance to get out of those things so that we can be blessed with the fruit of the Spirit. But who must we first turn to for guidance? We got to turn to the Lord.

Lenny: 13:01

I'm not sure if you noticed it or not, but in our Romans passage, as well as Galatians and Corinthians, paul mentions sexual immorality first on his list of sin. Is not all sin the same in the eyes of our Lord? I think that depends on context. When teaching his churches, paul does not seem to see sexual immorality the same as other sin. This becomes very clear in his letter to the Corinthians who were struggling with this sin and probably every other sin imaginable.

Lenny: 13:29

To the Corinthians, paul wrote All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ. Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her, for, as it is written, the two will become one flesh. But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6, 12-20.

Lenny: 14:42

This passage is very loaded with insight, but I think upon reading it we quickly see how the Apostle Paul viewed sexual immorality. Does Paul promote that Christians are their own people or God's people? He actually says you are not your own, for you are bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. Our God is Yahweh. We were born into his kingdom. We were adopted into his kingdom. We were adopted into his kingdom. We were adopted into his kingdom. We were adopted as his children. He chose us to be part of his heavenly kingdom.

Lenny: 15:17

Our bodies are temples. He says so. Glorify God in your body, don't use it for sexual immorality. Paul's saying so. Why does this matter? And how does Paul want his church to see their bodies? I think it's very critical that we understand the higher calling that we have as God's children. Paul wanted us to see our bodies as holy temples, so we take care of them and we use them for good.

Lenny: 15:41

A lot of people think that our bodies are sinful and we just have these sinful, wretched bodies. In scripture, our bodies are seen as holy temples. But a good tool can be used for good and bad. You could take a hammer and use it to build up, or you could take a hammer and use it to destroy, can't you? Especially for young and unmarried Christians? I wanted to mention a message from Matt McMillan that I discovered a while back. It showed a lot of heart for him to make a bold message like he did. I think it could really help believers who are trying to manage sexual desire in a way that is pleasing to the Lord and even see things from a different perspective. It's really good.

Lenny: 16:20

The episode is called the Truth About Masturbation. I made a clickable link to that here in my study guide at wakinguptogracecom on the episodes page. As always, you can find the episodes page linked in the description section of this episode in your podcast app or just by visiting my podcast episodes page at wakinguptogracecom. Now in our last study we read Paul saying I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. That's Romans 12.1.

Lenny: 16:54

Does Paul seem to describe sexual immorality as the polar opposite of the worship we see in this Romans 12 passage? Going back to Corinthians, what does Paul say to do in regards to sexual immorality? He says to flee from it. Doesn't he Flee from sexual immorality? What do you flee from it? Doesn't he Flee from sexual immorality? What do you think Paul means by? You were bought with a price. Do you think that he's referring to the price that Christ Yeshua had to pay on the cross with his blood so that you could be made right with God? I definitely think that's the price he's talking about.

Lenny: 17:28

Earlier, in Paul's letter to the Corinthians, we see Paul coming down hard on sin. In 1 Corinthians 5, paul writes 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? I go over these passages in more detail, along with other difficult passages that seem punishing to Christians in episode number 17, if you want to check that out later.

Lenny: 18:04

But the question is, what was Paul's charge against the church here? His charge against the church seems to be their mindset, their mentality, their arrogance and their boasting, their pride in this sexual sin. They saw no problem with it, it didn't just happen, and they were ashamed about it and they were like, oh, shouldn't have done that, they were proud of it. They were ashamed about it and they're like, oh, shouldn't have done that, they were proud of it. Can you imagine a group of people here pumping up this guy's ego while he boasts about what he had done? I'm definitely seeing that. That's definitely what I'm seeing in this passage. Then, in verse 6, paul writes your boasting is not good.

Lenny: 18:44

Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Some translations use the word yeast, but they didn't have yeast in those times. For them, leavened bread was traditional sourdough. The leaven was a bit of fermented dough that, when added to the dough, would act similar to yeast, working its way through the whole batch and making it rise. Leaven works fully through the dough as it settles into it, so much that you can now simply take a small piece of the dough and it has become leaven for the next batch.

Lenny: 19:15

Christ Yeshua used the analogy saying beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Leaven is describing influence. The Pharisees had a lot of influence, just like people at the podium have today had a lot of influence, just like people at the podium have today In the Corinthian church. Pride and sin was the negative influence. Leaven would not have to be negative, but in these instances the influence was negative. Paul mentions this after saying their boasting isn't good. It was their attitude that concerned Paul the most. Their attitude would influence others into error and cause other people to stumble.

Lenny: 19:52

I also want to mention the word repent, as it certainly applies here. We often see the word repent in our Bibles. Properly defined, the word repent means change your mind or change of mind. Do you see a problem here? That would require a change of mind? Do you think this even would have gone to this level if their minds were in the right place. What was it that needed to be changed in their minds?

Lenny: 20:15

From my vantage point, they were turning to godless ways. They weren't following the guidance of the Spirit. They weren't walking by the Spirit of God. They were walking by their own self-motives, their own sinful desires. If they realized how shameful their behavior was, would Paul have had to rebuke them? I don't think so. Paul was trying to get them to change their mindset, to come back around to the truth. So were these guys being guided by the spirit of the flesh? Definitely the flesh. These are all the fruits of the flesh. And would this sin have a negative effect on anyone? Absolutely it would.

Lenny: 20:54

Next thing, you know, you have the whole church promoting sexual immorality. I mean that's crazy. So then, in 1 Corinthians 5.9, he 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, since then you would need to go out of the world. So does Paul judge people's behavior outside of the church? Do you see him bringing these same values to the non-believing, non-regenerate people that reject God, reject Christ. No, he's not trying to improve their behavior. He said that's not our focus, but we got to take care of what's inside of the church. We are the ones that have been sanctified. We're the ones that have a higher calling.

Lenny: 21:40

What do you think Paul focused on teaching people outside of the church instead of good behavior? He was sharing the gospel, wasn't he? And he was doing that inside and outside of the church. But inside of the church they had some behavior problems oftentimes, didn't they? And they were contagious. It was no good. It would all come from a poor mindset. They would have to go back to the gospel, go back to an understanding. Why are they not appreciating god? Why are they being godless? What's going on here?

Lenny: 22:12

Is there a similar change of mind that needs to take place in believers and unbelievers who are consumed in sin? Sometimes it seems like even believers need a big wake-up call, don't they? Our eyes are open at salvation, but then sometimes we get distracted by the world, don't we? And we need another eye-opening experience. Sometimes we need to be brought back to the world, don't we? And we need another eye-opening experience. Sometimes we need to be brought back to the beginning. Don't we that moment of regeneration where we saw sin for how it truly was and we didn't like it and we wanted a Savior and we wanted to please the Lord?

Lenny: 22:44

Do you think Paul wants his church to not associate with a Christian who is struggling and needs help with sexual immorality or one who is committing these acts without shame? I think he's definitely targeting the mindset, the shameless mindset, of this behavior. They were proud of it. Their mind was in the wrong place. They were willingly not pleasing the Lord with their behavior. They were willingly rejecting his truth and living out error. Is there a difference in sin under the right mindset and sin under error? In other words, would Paul take this thing so seriously if they were sorry for it versus if they were taking pride in it? I think the whole point here was that Paul was trying to help them to understand and realize the severity of the sin. Don't you Now?

Lenny: 23:35

Do you think the apostles' teachings seem a bit radical in comparison with the general views of our day today? Do you think people would see these things so severely like the apostles did? I think most people would see this as very radical and then other people would see this as essential for salvation, essential for fellowship, and take it to a whole other extreme. But they misunderstand the severity of the Lord when they start turning it into legalism, when you start turning it into fellowship with God requires these things because you're going to make mistakes too. So by your own standard, you place yourself out of fellowship completely. On knowing when you could possibly be in and out, you could only pretend you know. So do you think that we can fully apply these principles to ourselves and in our situation today? I think that's a really good question. Can we apply these principles to ourselves and in our situation today? Probably going to depend on how close of relationships you have in your church, what your church looks like.

Lenny: 24:38

These guys were tight-knit. These guys were close and they all believed. They had the apostles teaching them, they believed in the correct doctrine. Essentially, even though they would fall away and they were constantly being misled, they had the doctrine of the apostles. They had that foundation going. It's going to be a little bit harder today, with all the misguidance that we have out there. It's going to be a little bit harder today to even be that close with people because we're so surfacy in church environments today Nobody's really digging into the truth, because if you go away from what the institution teaches just a little bit, you're going to find yourself most of the time in a dangerous place, a place where you either have to kind of be quiet or get asked to leave. So Paul continues.

Lenny: 25:28

But now I'm 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, reveler, 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. 1 Corinthians 5, 11.

Lenny: 25:54

So would this statement confirm that the one who committed the sexually immoral act was in fact a Christian? He's saying not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother If he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed or is an idolater, reveler, bears the name of brother. He's talking about Christians here. If these guys are bearing the name of brother and they're in deep with these sins and they got no problem with it, they're not looking for repentance. He's saying don't associate with them. That would most certainly be applying to the man he was talking about earlier, wouldn't it? So Paul again adds other sin here. Do you think he kicked someone out of the church every time they drank a little too much or acted a little stingy with their money? Or do you think he kicked someone out of the church every time they drank a little too much or acted a little stingy with their money? Or do you think he's talking about people that are in deep, people that are just turning away from the Lord's guidance in these areas?

Lenny: 26:47

All together, the apostles had a very radical view on sin. They didn't take it lightly. They didn't take it lightly, but they also didn't take grace lightly and they also didn't preach legalism. Legalism is something that we pull out of Scripture because we misinterpret it. They were just promoting, pleasing the Lord. They were all about it. Would it have been more important in their time than ever? Yeah, I mean, it's hard to put ourselves in their time. You know, they were living at the end of the age. They were suffering major persecution in many of these churches. They had difficulties. They were supporting each other, they were living amongst each other. They were outcasts. They got cast out of the temples, which would have been the main sources of trade and food. Everything happened there. They were getting cast out. So could you have room for people that were greedy? Did you have room for revelers, drunkards? It was really important in those times, but is it any less important in these times? We may be in a different situation, but these passages can still help us to better understand how radical the apostles saw sin, and why. Because they wanted the best for everybody. They wanted them to have the peace and the grace that the Lord gives when we're pleasing him right.

Lenny: 28:07

So was the mentality and mindset that produced the behavior most important here, or the sin itself? And I think it's a mentality, it's a mindset that turning away from the Lord's guidance that's most important. I believe this is what Paul was focusing on here. It wasn't just the acts themselves, it wasn't just somebody got drunk or somebody was greedy in this moment. This was something that they were really deep in in a godless way. Is true repentance or changing our view on sin, the best way to change our behavior? Yeah, if we agree with God, when we take God's view, we take his lead, don't we? Does repentance always lead to change in behavior? There can most certainly be struggles, right. Sometimes it's a long-term gain. Getting out of a sin. Right, you've just got to keep faith, you've got to keep praying, you've got to keep letting the highway guide.

Lenny: 29:06

If we read Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, this man seems to have been welcomed back in once. His mindset was changed, or, as Paul used the term throughout his first letter, his spirit was saved. As I mentioned in episodes 17 and 29, we have to be careful how we define the word spirit when we see it in scripture. It's all too easy to make this word mean salvation in our minds when this is not at all the intended meaning of the word in many cases. In 2 Corinthians 2.5, we read Now, if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it, not to me, but in some measure. In 2 Corinthians 2.5, we read 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 not be outwitted by satan, for we are not ignorant of his designs.

Lenny: 30:17

What did paul not want to happen to the man who sinned. He didn't want him to be overwhelmed with excessive sorrow. Would this statement show that Paul did want his mind to shift to sorrow? Yeah, I think so. He wanted him to be sorrowful. He wanted him to feel bad about what he did and not feel good about it. Right, that would have been the proper response. Would this occur in a natural man apart from the spirit? No, natural man's not going to feel bad about that. They were proud about it, weren't they? That was the concern that paul had. What are you guys doing? You're acting like godless man. Do we see the church working as a body here to do what is right? Yeah, the church was all working together, taking care of this thing, trying to get this corrected amongst themselves.

Lenny: 31:06

And why do you think that Paul mentions Satan here? Being outwitted by Satan? Do you think that it might have a connection to pride? It was a pride problem, wasn't it? Satan was like the ambassador of pride, all things pride. If you looked up pride in the dictionary, you'd probably find Satan there, wouldn't you? Would this confirm that the core issue was pride and a mindset that was rebelling against Yahweh Absolutely? It was when the change of mind occurred. Did Paul completely change his tone towards this guy and the church? Yes, he did. Didn't he Welcome him back with open arms and full forgiveness?

Lenny: 31:46

Throughout life, we often encounter gray areas or have to make choices that are not always the choice we may desire. This is why it's so important to understand our right standing with our Heavenly Father. We can always turn to Him and know that he will guide us. Even when we ignore His guidance, yahweh continues to guide us. He is always shaping us for the future. He is always teaching us, even when we don't listen. We are His children and he is always working in our lives, even when we don't see it.

Lenny: 32:17

The Apostle Paul certainly experienced the peace and joy that goes with following the lead of the Holy Spirit and saw that as the purpose for all Christians. We also see over and over that many did not automatically take to this understanding or choose to follow what Yahweh was guiding them to do. We are blessed when our Lord disciplines us in love, aren't we? It may not be pleasant all the time, but if we are to run a good race, as Paul says of himself at times, we must be trained to endure. Later, in Romans, paul writes more than that. We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. That's Romans, chapter 5, verse 3.

Lenny: 33:09

But are we always going to make everyone happy as Christians? Can we always be what people expect us to be in our lives? Should we allow ourselves to live based on other people's opinions, in the church or outside of the church? It's easy to be taken advantage of in life when people know you are a Christian. We want to be a light to others, but let's face it, we may have people judging us based on what they would do in certain situations. We can't be everything to everyone, can we? If we spread ourselves too thin, we fall apart.

Lenny: 33:41

To this point, paul writes in Galatians 5.21,. Do not be guided by the pressure of people. People-pleasing. Be guided by the Father. Is he saying be guided by yourself? No. Is he saying be guided by other opinions? No. Where do we go for guidance? The Father?

Lenny: 34:02

Did Paul have authority in the church beyond what we have today? I believe he did. He had apostolic authority. He was sent directly by Christ. He was sent out. He was an apostle chosen by Christ for this message, chosen to be building these churches and writing these letters that we still have today. So can we look to Paul for instruction in its proper context? Absolutely we can. Should we pretend Paul wrote directly to us when we're reading? No, don't do that. We don't want to go there. We have to keep things in context. Audience relevance is always going to be key. It matters when it was written and who it was written to.

Lenny: 34:44

Paul continues in Galatians but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. That's Galatians 5.22. The church in Galatia was being swayed to mix law and grace. They were being misguided by false teachers that Christ Yeshua was not enough. Fellowship and salvation required the law. Still, it was based on works.

Lenny: 35:18

According to this view, christ didn't finish anything. Why would Paul say there is no law against the fruit of the Spirit? Because the fruit of the Spirit comes from freedom. It comes from the heart. When we're no longer under law and we're free to serve. We can produce the fruit of the Spirit when we serve. This is a benefit of being a Christian. This is a purpose of being a Christian. You're right with God now. Now we can serve God from a pure heart. No more guilt, no more condemnation. We're free of that. If we can walk by the flesh, still as Christians, why, would Paul say and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. He actually teaches this earlier in his letter, right before this passage. This is why context is so important.

Lenny: 36:10

We have to be careful isolating passages. In Galatians 5.16, he wrote but I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. When we walk by the Spirit, which is to follow the lead of the Spirit in our lives, we embrace the finished work of Christ Yeshua, we live by His grace and we please our Father in our lives. What greater peace do we get as Christians when we please our Father? Again in Galatians we read and because you are sons, god has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba, father. We have the Spirit of his Son in our hearts, crying out, abba, father. It's crying out to the Lord on our behalf. Let's end our study with instruction from Paul at the end of our Romans letter.

Lenny: 36:58

Later, in Romans 12, paul says Let love be genuine, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. How can our love be made genuine? It has to come from the freedom of grace. It has to come apart from law and rules and regulations. Genuine love would come from the heart.

Lenny: 37:20

We love because we were loved. It's as simple as that. There's no law that can stop that. Only by the grace of our Lord and Savior can we be set free from sin, made right with God and choose to do what is right, not from fear of punishment, but from a genuine desire that comes from the heart. When we are born into the kingdom of our Lord, our spirit is now in union with his. This union cannot be broken. It is for the purpose of spiritual guidance. Although we don't always follow, the spirit does not stop guiding based on our behavior, and Yahweh always has a plan for you as a child of God. Your union with him cannot be broken, it cannot be made better, it cannot be changed in any way. Christ Yeshua is the rock of our salvation and fellowship. He cannot be moved. We are links in a chain that cannot be broken. Hope you guys have a good rest of your day out there and I'll see you guys next week.

announcement: 38:17

Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to Grace podcast brought to you by the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you enjoyed today's episode, we would love to hear from you. You can send encouragement our way right from our episodes and transcripts page or reach Lenny privately from the contact form at wakinguptogracecom.