Okay, I'm in Romans chapter 1, verse 1 through 5.

This is, I got to warn you right now, it's going to be a different type of sermon in the sense, well, first of all, let me say, I know a lot of you come on the weekends and you know, when we come to church, a lot of us are dealing with a lot of junk.

We're just going through stuff.

And there's a part of us that every time we come to church, we would really rather hear a sermon about, Jeff, your job is to pastor me and help me get over these things that I'm experiencing.

I know that.

And I wish I could do that every weekend, but you'd get bored with me after a while, I promise.

What we're doing in this series is there have been a lot of people come to Christ over the last 18 months in our church.

There are new Christians all around you.

So it's important that we go back from time to time and talk about the essentials of what it is to be a Christ follower.

You'll find, however, that at the same time, even if you're here this weekend because you need some encouragement, you're going through a lot, You will find the Spirit of God speaking to you because the Word never returns void.

There will be a message for you in this somehow in a way that you never expected because God always takes.

If you're here, it's because God wants you here.

And if God wants you here, it's because He has a message.

So listen intently.

So as you turn to Romans 1, 1 through 5, I want to ask two questions to start out with.

Here's the first one.

How many of you have something in your life that tempts you?

Yeah.

Okay, like we've talked about before in James 1, the thing about the devil is he knows exactly where your weakness is and he will go right after it.

And usually he waits until everything's going really well and you've dropped your guard.

It's uncanny.

He knows exactly when, where, and how.

Now, the Bible says no temptation has come upon you that is not common to man.

So it's not like you can't do anything about it, but temptation will come.

And sometimes it'll come every day, and then sometimes it'll go away, and then it'll come back right when you least expect it at the worst possible time.

So here's the first question.

When it comes, whatever it is in your life, how do you respond?

Okay, I want to give you a multiple choice.

Number A, you totally ignore it.

You know it's there and conviction's there.

You know, you're being convicted by the Holy Spirit, but you have a, it's uncanny how you can just put it out of your mind and do what you want to do.

Or B, do you stop when the conviction comes and you say to yourself, you know what, I shouldn't do this.

But then you rationalize of why it is you can do this.

My brother, younger brother used to tell my father, every time he got in trouble, he would say, dad, you have to understand this is what I'm like.

And as if somehow that was going to get him out of trouble.

How many of you stop, conviction comes, and then you rationalize or see how many of you go this route?

I know this is wrong, but I'm saved by grace through faith.

God will forgive me.

Okay, and if you don't say it, you feel it.

That's what, you don't say that, but the conviction gets weaker and weaker.

The Bible calls this grieving the spirit or quenching the fire of the spirit because you're going to do what you want to do regardless of the conviction that comes.

And D, how many of you fight really hard against it in order to achieve a great victory?

So you've got A, B, C, and D.

And if you're honest, you'll say, well, I do them all to tell you the truth.

Sometimes I'm A, sometimes I'm B, sometimes I'm C, right?

Now, here's the second question.

If you're saved by grace through faith, why is it important to obey?

If you're salvation, if you're saved by grace through faith, what's the role of obedience?

I mean, right?

Even when you do fall, you're still going to heaven, right?

Even when you don't do the right thing, you're still going to heaven.

So why is obedience that big a deal if you're really saved by grace through faith.

We're going to Romans.

This is the text to answer all your questions in just three chapters.

Let's start.

And when we do stuff like this now, I can't tell you funny stories and jokes throughout this sermon.

Don't have time.

I'll tell you a few things, but we got to go to the text here.

Verse 1, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, the gospel he promised beforehand through the prophets and the holy scriptures, regarding his son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, fully man, and who through the spirit of holiness was appointed the son of God, empowered by his resurrection from the dead, so he's fully God, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Through him, we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his namesake.

There are three catalytic moments in the first three chapters of the book of Romans.

This is the first one.

Paul says he's a bond servant, a doulos.

Greek is a precise language.

This is not the Greek idea of slavery, forced obedience.

This is the Hebrew elevation of the word.

A doulos is someone who willingly places themselves under a master.

And they willingly place themselves there because they love the master.

They hold the master in high regard.

They respect the master.

They can leave anytime they want.

But a doulos is somebody who willingly puts themselves under the master out of love, high regard.

and respect.

Now, let me give you a good illustration of this, and it works both ways.

A couple of years ago, we went to Rwanda.

I told you no illustrations.

I lied.

Here's one.

We went to Rwanda a few years ago, and Michael was with me, and I think Rick Reed was with me, maybe Mark Hall, a few other people.

We were doing an open air revival in the streets of Kigali, which means we're just out in the open worship team.

I'm supposed to be the keynote speaker, and there are people walking up and down from the pub.

You know, you can come in, you can do whatever you want to do.

And I'm preaching and about halfway through my sermon, there's a gentleman that starts approaching me.

So he's leaving the congregation and everything about his body language meant evil intent.

Well, let me tell you something.

What do you think happened?

Okay.

Rick Reed, Mark Hall and all my other friends, they just retreated.

Michael got up out of his chair, ran to the front.

and stood there like this and intercepted.

Now I'll tell you, yeah, yeah.

So at that point, I knew who my true friends were.

And you could tell Michael that posture.

You could tell that guy wasn't getting past Michael.

Now here's the thing about that.

Look at Michael and look at me.

Do you think I could force Michael to do anything?

I don't think so.

You know, Michael probably has more strength in this part of his body than I do my whole body.

If you've ever seen him at the gym, you know that.

But why does he willingly place himself under my authority?

Why does he serve me?

Because he does out of love and appreciation.

He and I have ministry together.

We have history together.

And I know in the future, if I'm somewhere and Michael's with me, I'm totally safe because God is the big boss, but God uses Michael as the bouncer.

Now, Based on what I have done for Michael and Michael has done for me in the past, we have mutual respect for each other in the future.

Now, this is what Paul basically is saying.

He's saying that I am a bondservant to God because he's done so much for me in the past.

I willingly place myself under his authority because I hold him in high regard.

Now, let me read verse 1 and 2 again.

Paul continues the theme.

He says, Paul...

a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, the gospel he promised beforehand through the prophets and the holy scriptures.

He says, I'm a bondservant and I'm set apart for the gospel of God.

It's euangelion is the Greek word.

It means a good herald.

So this is the word used to describe a herald who, after the king has defeated the army in a faraway land, travels back to the city and lets the people know you are saved and you are restored.

That's what a good herald is, an euangelon.

The Greek word angloi, from which we get the word euangelon, is about someone who declares that a victory over the enemy has been secured.

And Paul uses that word to convey the idea that the gospel of God is not good advice for you to follow.

The gospel of God is good news to be delivered to you that you are saved now.

You're safe and secure, not because of your goodness we talked about last week.

but because Christ has secured the ultimate victory against your enemy of sin and death.

That is the gospel.

And Paul says, I am called to be an apostle.

I have been set apart, set apart to announce the good news.

And then we're going to find out to who.

And before we do, he says, there has to be an admission.

Part of the good news of the gospel, you can't have good news unless you have bad news first.

And part of the bad news of the gospel is that yes, you and I are sinners.

We all lie.

We cheat.

We steal.

We run away from our friends when somebody's trying to hurt them.

Rick Reed, he's not here, so I'm going to really go after him.

We are unforgiving, bitter.

You know, my younger brother, here's a photo of him.

I think I showed this earlier in my ministry.

My brother, he's a character.

I mean, he's a joker.

He's one year younger.

He's the guy that builds guitars, but he is the ultimate joker.

And when we were growing up, we loved to play church, right?

And my younger brother was always the pastor.

And he would always come out acting like a Baptist pastor.

A Baptist pastor in Tennessee, when they're not handling snakes, are preaching sermons, are preaching sermons, and they have this breath thing that they got going on.

Ay-yi-yi-yi, ay-yi-yi-yi.

And my brother Tony was perfect at it.

And he would come out and he made up this sermon.

I mean, he's very creative.

He made up this sermon and he says, you know what?

You guys are evil.

E-V-I-L.

All of you, evil.

Take away the E and you're vile.

All of you are vile, debaucherous, sinners.

You're horrible people.

Take off the V and you're ill.

And that's why you're all sick because you're filled with sin.

And take off the I and you got L and that's where you're all gone when you die.

And he would do that.

He made up.

I'm serious.

He made that up.

Now, he would pause a little bit.

He'd pause a little bit.

Then he'd say, however, there's Jesus.

And if you receive Jesus.

If you reverse evil, it spells live, and you're going to live with Jesus for eternity.

I mean, that's pretty clever.

That's pretty clever.

That would preach in Africa.

I'm telling you, that would preach.

So the point I'm making is all the founders, you're talking about Luther and Augustine and a guy named John R.W.

Stott, who wrote a book called The Cross of Christ.

Do you know when they first read the gospel, so these are some of the most influential people in the evangelical world, and when they first read the gospel, you know what they had in common?

they hated it.

They hated it because it reminded them of how bad they were, and they resented it.

And then when they really discovered what the righteousness of God meant in Romans 1.16 that we've talked about, I won't go over again, all of them, let's give Luther as an example.

Luther said this, then I grasped that the righteousness of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy, God justifies us by faith.

Thereupon, I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.

They're saying, you know what?

Your righteousness can never save you.

Only God's righteousness can, demonstrated on the cross of Jesus Christ, and that grace is freely given to all who believe.

So then the next question comes, and the question is the one Paul answers in Romans 1.5 is catalytic.

If that's true, what is the relationship then between grace and obedience?

If I'm saved and secure by grace, why should I fret so hard to obey anything?

And in verse 5, he says, through him, We received grace and apostleship, and then Paul gives us his calling to call all the Gentiles, in case you're wondering, you're a Gentile, to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his namesake.

Paul says, I have received grace, forgiveness, and justification.

I have received the gift of apostleship.

I have been set apart by God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to communicate the good news.

But my role, Paul says, which means it's my role, It's Michael's role, any communicator of the gospel, to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

Now, what does that mean?

What does it mean?

He says it again in Romans 16, 26, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God so that all Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from faith.

What does that mean?

Now, this is important, so important, I'm encouraging you to write it down somewhere.

I want to tell you what that means.

Number one, let me tell you what it does not mean.

Salvation does not come from faith and obedience.

Both are essential, but only one is essential to salvation, which is it, faith or obedience?

Faith.

So you might say, whew, man, thank God I don't have to obey.

But the text structure does not say that.

It says that salvation comes through faith alone.

Obedience has a role to play.

but it can't be a requirement or prerequisite for salvation.

That's why when somebody says, man, I better become righteous and straighten up my life and then I'll come to Jesus.

I've said that makes no sense at all.

First of all, good luck.

Second of all, the Bible says later in Romans, there's nobody good, nobody righteous.

Jeremiah 17, 9 says, the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.

Romans 8, 7 says, the mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God.

it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

So the Bible teaches until the Spirit of God comes into a person's life, not only do they not have a desire to obey, but even if they try, they cannot.

They are powerless.

That's one of the reasons I tell you that when people come in our midst that are not yet Christ followers, why are you expecting them to act as if they're Christ followers?

They're not there yet.

They're what we call in theological terms, unregenerate.

Their eyes have not been opened.

They don't have the power of the Spirit of God to enable them to live a pure and holy life.

However, Paul goes on to teach that when a person humbles themselves or humbles himself or herself and admits to sin and how powerless they really are and receive Christ, then by faith, the result is Christ comes on the inside.

And not only do you have a desire now to be holy, you have the power to be holy.

Do you remember the old hymn, Rock of Ages?

Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.

Let the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flowed be of sin the double cure.

It's a double cure.

Save from wrath and make me pure.

So the double cure is you're saved from your sins, past, present, future, but now you have the power within you.

If you have genuine, authentic faith, you have the power in you to overcome temptation and to obey.

So what Paul is basically saying here is that true faith results in obedience.

True faith, if it's authentic, results in obedience.

That's the obedience that comes from faith.

The faith that automatically produces obedience.

However, obedience is not a second condition of salvation.

It can't be.

Obedience is evidence that true salvation exists.

Now, I'm not suggesting for a moment that means that you obey every time.

Good luck with that.

It's not going to happen.

And the problem is with people who tell me you can't get to heaven unless you obey all the time is that same scale we use in salvation.

We say, if...

If your good work saves you, the question then is, how many good works do you have to do before you're saved?

And most people say, well, as long as I have more good than bad, I'm saved.

Well, that's because you're measuring yourself against everybody else instead of God.

With God, you've got to be 100% good to be saved if you're going to relate to him on the basis of goodness or the law.

The same thing is true about sanctification.

How good do you have to be?

How many times do you have to obey before your salvation is secure.

It's a wrong question.

Nobody knows because some of us come into our faith with heaps of baggage.

It's going to take us years to obey Christ in some of those areas that we need to obey.

The point is, the real question is, do you have the desire to obey the precepts of God?

If it's not in you, you're not saved.

The automatic natural result of someone I don't know.

Who is saved by grace through faith is the desire and the will to obey.

Even if you blow it all the time, your will and desire is to obey.

Salvation then does not come from faith and obedience.

It comes by faith alone.

However, number two, obedience does come from true faith.

The desire to obey is always present in those who have been truly saved.

When there's a heart change, there's going to be a change in action.

Okay.

Let me give you an example to kind of illustrate this.

Let's say you find yourself in a war zone.

Okay.

Let's use Michael again.

He's so easy.

Let's say we're in Rwanda and war breaks out again.

And I'm in the bunker with Ricky Reed, who's probably doing this, and some of my other friends, and Michael's there, and there's bombs dropping everywhere.

I mean, artillery fire all around us, snipers on the rooftops.

You know, I know there's no way out.

I know at that point I'm going to die, and I take out a letter, and I start writing the letter to my kids and grandkids and my wife in hopes that somehow they get it.

And then suddenly, the captain shows up.

Let's call Michael the captain.

He shows up, and he looks at me and says, Pastor Jeff, do everything I tell you to do, and you will live.

And so I follow everything he tells me to do.

And the uncanny thing is...

carefully paying attention to his commands.

To my astonishment, he brings us safely out just hours after we thought doom was imminent.

Now, here's the question.

Let's say Michael and I go back a year later, and now we're in Uganda, which is very possible for a war to break out, and Michael comes up to me, and I'm in the same situation, and he says, Pastor Jeff, do everything I tell you to do, and you will live.

What do you think I'm going to do?

I'm going to do everything he tells me to do because I want to live.

See, this is the catalytic moment in the Christian life.

He has rescued you before, redeemed you, saved you from your worst battles, and now you're on a one-way trip to the life your heart desires and your soul knows exists.

The captain of your soul, Jesus, has saved you, redeemed you, restored you, secured your eternal life.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard what God has prepared for those who love him.

And if your heart then...

is broken by sin and all of its effect, and you understand what Jesus, the great captain of your soul, has done for you, and it's been melted by a Savior who died for you and secured your life and hope, then Paul is saying the natural result of someone who gets the gospel is that the Spirit of God is in you.

It's no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you.

And suddenly you find yourself having a desire to obey the Word of God because he saved you once.

He'll save you again.

That's what he means.

He says, my calling is to call all the Gentiles to the obedience.

That comes from faith.

The obedience that is a result of true, authentic, saving faith.

So salvation does not come from faith and obedience.

Two, obedience does come from true faith.

Here's the third part.

True obedience understands the motivation behind the precepts.

So I had an elder in New Zealand.

I've mentioned him many times.

Great elder, great man of God.

Passed away a couple of years ago on our Monday Night Prayer meeting.

We actually prayed for him before his death.

He had a son, an elder son, who was just a rebel.

And I engaged his son, his name was Ashley, in many conversations.

And I was young, so I was a little bit more bold, not as nice.

And in these conversations, Ashley would always say, Pastor Jeff, I don't think you understand me.

It's not that I don't believe in God.

God may exist, but I just don't care if he exists.

Because he's always telling me how I should live and what to do.

And that's not freedom.

and I want no part of it.

And finally, one day I said to Ashley, do you know why God tells you what to do?

Why?

Because he loves you.

What?

You remember the illustration we've used numerous times?

A sailboat.

I've always been enamored with these million dollar yachts they have at Mayor's Cup Boat Racing.

These things are beautiful.

And if you sail them out on the open water, life is exhilarating.

You can go speeds that you...

did not beforehand know that you could actually achieve.

But here's the problem with those boats.

You don't sail them near the beach.

Because if you do, and you definitely don't try to take them off the back of a truck and try to sail a boat on the freeway.

It doesn't work very well.

The designer did not design the boat to sail near the rocks or on the freeway.

Now, here's the thing.

Every good thing in your life...

has some restrictions to it, doesn't it?

Every good thing, everything that we have comes with a manual.

Here's how you can use this.

Here's how you don't use this.

Frankly, my cars don't last because I've never read a manual.

I just think you drive them until the red lights come on.

And then you take them to a mechanic and he'll tell you.

The point is, a sailboat cannot flourish outside of the parameters in the same way if God is the grand designer of life.

You and I are incapable of flourishing outside his fatherly parameters.

And somebody will say to me, well, it's my life and I want to destroy it.

I should be able to.

Your life?

Really?

You think it's your life?

You created yourself?

No, no.

Your life belongs to God.

He's the creator designer.

In 1 Corinthians 4, 7, for who makes you different from anyone else?

What do you have that you did not receive?

And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

When I see these people say, my body, my choice.

No, it's not your body and it's not your choice.

Your body belongs to the creator.

Its use is by design, God's design, not your preferences.

And if you violate the design, you bring disintegration into your own life.

All right.

How many of you have been in LA for a long time?

How many of you remember in 1998, the construction was completed on the famous Walt Disney concert hall in Los Angeles?

Remember that?

I don't know if you know the story, but during the building, workers ran into an issue with the complex sweeping metallic exterior.

And one of the subcontractors looked at the intricate blueprints for supporting the structural frame, and he thought, you know what?

This seems overly complicated and unnecessary.

We can save time, money, and materials by skipping a few of these reinforced crossbeams.

So they altered the plan to fit their own logic.

Months later, As the heavy steel plates were being lifted into place, engineers noticed a subtle bowing in the frame.

This is not good.

No bueno.

The entire structure was at the risk of falling under its own weight and work halted immediately.

It cost millions and millions of dollars and months of delay to tear out the modeling framing and build it strictly according to the architect's original blueprints.

California is very good at spending money.

What did we get for billions of dollars?

A one-mile track of some kind?

Never mind, that's another story.

The subcontractor was not trying to ruin the building.

That wasn't his motivation.

He simply assumed that he knew better than the architect who has spent years calculating every load, angle, and stress point.

Here's what we do with God.

We view God's commands through the lens of our immediate convenience, comfort, or social logic.

And we think we know better than God.

Obedience requires trusting that the architect, capital A, sees the structural load of our lives better than we do.

It's not restriction, folks.

It's protection from a loving father.

His laws and guidances aren't meant to restrict you, but to free you up to live within the parameters for shalom, a life that flourishes.

Now, you think about this for a moment.

When you're not thinking of God's law, we think of murder, stealing, bearing false witness, coveting.

But as you read the Bible, you read about adultery, abortion, coarse language and profanity, bitterness, anger, gossip, homosexuality, gluttony, coveting, apathy toward the less fortunate, sex outside of marriage, unwholesome entertainment, all of these things.

Why is it that many Christians think these commands are optional and have very little desire to obey Christ in any of these areas?

But see, now we're...

We should be too smart now because psychology journals now teach us that Jesus was actually right and he knew what he was talking about.

Not that we need that, but now we know.

And this is information, none of this information I'm about to read came from any Christian journal.

This is from psychology counseling journals, what I'm about to say to you.

Now we are told sex before marriage, especially in the teen years and even early adulthood, correlates with higher rates of emotional distress.

lower educational attainment, and a higher likelihood of unstable future relationships.

Man, Jesus must have known what he's talking about.

Statistical correlations with marriage dynamic studies show that having multiple sexual partners before marriage produces much lower rates of long-term marital satisfaction and significantly higher rates of divorce.

Wow, Jesus must have known.

Now, I have this long list of the effects of pornography.

I only need to read you one line.

Pornography, we're told, plays a significant role in over half of all divorces in America.

I don't need to say anything else.

It destroys relationships.

How about this one though?

Swearing, using bad language, dropping the F-bomb.

Stop doing that, Christians.

Stop doing that.

Have you ever read Ephesians 5?

Very clear in Ephesians 5, do not use vain words, coarse jesting.

Language that is inappropriate, but now psychology journalists tell us this.

Listeners frequently perceive constant swearers as having lower emotional control, less confidence, or a limited vocabulary, even if their actual cognitive ability or vocabulary is high.

In other words, people think you're stupid.

Perceive trustworthiness and professionalism in professional, academic, or formal environments.

Heavy swearing reduces perceived competence, authority, and reliability.

In other words, people think you're stupid.

Aggression bias.

Constant use of aggressive language causes others to perceive you as defensive, hostile, or unpredictable, which creates social distance and friction in relationships.

In other words, people think you're stupid and violent.

Gossiping.

Wow.

Gossiping, psychological and emotional costs, heightened anxiety and paranoia.

Spreading negative information about others creates a projection effect, often called the gossip trap.

People who frequently gossip tend to assume others are doing the same to them, leading to increased vigilance, distrust, and anxiety about their own personal standing.

Internalize guilt and reduce self-esteem.

While gossip can offer a short-lived burst of bonding or social power, Studies show it is frequently followed by feelings of guilt, shame, or self-reproach, particularly when the gossip is malicious or untrue.

And then finally, spontaneous trait transference, a well-documented psychological phenomenon where listeners unintentionally associate the negative traits described in the gossip with the speaker.

If someone frequently describes others as untrustworthy or lazy, listeners subconsciously perceive the speaker as possessing those exact qualities.

Man, Jesus knew what he was talking about.

Imagine.

Let's keep going.

Salvation does not come from faith and obedience, from faith alone.

However, true authentic faith produces obedience.

Obedience does come from true faith.

Three, true obedience understands the motivation behind the concepts or precepts.

And here's a good one.

If you love God, you'll keep his commandments.

Jesus said in John 14, Now let me say this again.

We're not talking in the absolute sense.

There's nobody capable of keeping every commitment and doing the right thing every time you're convicted.

I am talking about when there's genuine, authentic salvation, conviction is going to come into your life when you violate the command, and your whole life is going to be fighting against the temptations that destroy you.

Why?

For one reason, you love Jesus.

If you love God, you will keep his commandments.

Not just a couple of them, but all of them.

Now, what does that mean?

Okay.

Why do I serve my wife?

Because I'm afraid.

No, no.

There's some truth in that too.

However.

Seriously, why do I serve my wife?

My wife and I are so opposite.

She wants to be inside all the time.

I want to be anywhere but inside.

She's a vegetarian.

I'm a meat eater.

I'll have a steak with another side of steak.

That's my life.

And yet, when it comes to me and Robin, I'll sit inside with her.

We go to vegetarian restaurants or at least something that provides great vegetarian options when we have our date days on Friday.

Now, why would I do that?

Why would I do it.

Because I love her.

I'm actually happy when she's happy.

This past week, she wanted some furniture moving.

Guys, I hate moving furniture.

And I discovered at 62, I can't do it anymore.

Because Delaney and I were lifting this.

Of course, everything's upstairs and she wants it downstairs.

It's never on the same floor.

But we're lifting this huge, I mean, you know, the more expensive something is, the heavier it is, right?

So we were given this very expensive, I mean, I don't even know what you call it.

I call it heavy is what I call it.

So Delaney and I were lifting, we got to lift it up over the banister, take it downstairs, take the corner, take it into the, and man, Delaney wanted me to get up top, he's down below.

And when I did this, oh man, right there.

And I said, oh, I'm hurt, I'm hurt, I'm hurt.

Of course, Robin has no sympathy.

She actually called me Rick Reed.

I mean, I don't know what that meant.

And I said, Rob, I'm hurt, I'm hurt.

But she said, well, what do you want me to do?

You want me to lift it?

Should have called Michael.

Do everything I tell you, and you'll get out of here alive, he said.

Oh, Michael, I'm telling you, Delaney, my son, he's never lifted a weight in his life, and I'm telling you, he is like Paul Bunyan.

I mean, this guy, unbelievable strength.

But anyway, he's trying to help me out.

But after I finished, I could have just laid on the couch, because I had a good excuse, but there was a bunch more work to be done, and I wanted to do all of it.

Now, I'm not asking you, well, Jeff, you're a great husband.

No, I'm not, because I complain most of the time.

But why do I do it?

Why do I do those things?

And the answer is I do it because I love her.

I love her.

Do you know that when a husband loves his wife, nothing makes him more happy than when she's happy?

She's just happy.

You know, when Robin says to me, I want to go hang out with my friends.

We're going to do crochet.

Go, go, really go.

No problem.

Can I tell you something?

That there are very few things that make God more happy than your obedience.

Let me tell you why.

Because obedience leads to human flourishing and the flourishing of everybody around you and everybody around you is created in God's image.

When you are bitter and don't forgive, you wound people, but you're also wounding yourself.

That displeases God.

Let's take something like gluttony.

We don't ever talk about gluttony.

Why would God have his heart broken?

Because we're gluttons.

Well, because gluttony causes health issues and often early death.

And then there's pain and suffering in the people who love us because they've lost us.

You see what I'm saying?

There's nothing you read in the Bible about the precepts of God that aren't motivated out of his love for you, that you would live in the parameters as the creator, designer, he knows.

Proverbs 6, 16 through 19 says, there are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

You know what all these things have in common?

It wounds someone that's been created in the image of God, and that does not make God smile.

The overarching point, listen now, someone who has true saving faith loves God, and those who love God really want to please him.

They want to bring a smile to God's face, not in order to be saved, but out of gratitude for the salvation they've already experienced.

All right, let's finish.

Salvation does not come from faith and obedience.

Obedience does come from true faith.

True obedience understands the motivation behind the precepts.

If you love God, you will keep his commandments.

And five, true faith desires conformity to the image of Christ.

Notice in chapter one, notice the end of verse five.

Through him, we receive grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name's sake.

In other words, when you and I obey, we live lives of distinction.

And when we live lives of distinction, that compels other people to come in to the flock.

They see something different in us.

Can I ask you something?

People that you hang out with, first of all, do they even know you're a Christ follower?

Is there something so distinct about your life?

They're curious.

Distinction is the one word that matters so much to God when it comes to conformity to Christ.

Now, when we come together next weekend, it's gonna be rough.

Because when we get to the next part of chapter one, we're told that there are a lot of Christians who grieve the Holy Spirit because they ignore the conviction.

Then they quench the fire of the Spirit.

They can't even hear the conviction anymore.

And then God hands them over to depravity where they can't distinguish between light and darkness.

Our sins against God have a cause and effect that are embedded into the universe God has created.

As I've said before, God doesn't set up in heaven thinking, I'm going to get you for that.

He doesn't need to.

He doesn't need to do that.

If you violate the parameters, cause and effect, God is not mocked, a man reaps what he sows, Galatians 6, 7.

It's embedded into the universe.

So if you cheat on your wife, yeah, she may forgive you, but the consequences remain.

She doesn't trust you.

She doesn't feel secure with you.

She may not even wish to remain with you.

Just because God forgives you doesn't mean the consequences of your sin are taken away.

Every day you and I face choices in this Christian life.

You have the option to obey or disobey your master's commands.

You can remain sexually pure or violate his command.

But you can't do it without ramifications, even if you don't see them.

You can tell the truth or you can bear false witness.

You can ensure that your conversation is wholesome and pure, or you can engage in foolish talk and coarse joking.

You can be entertained by immorality or choose to have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness, Ephesians 5.

You can pursue Christ in every endeavor, or you can fulfill the desires of the flesh in a way that violates the command.

Now, quickly, I'm almost on time.

Quickly, only two pages left, but lean in.

I want to give you some signs, okay?

Here's how you know you're on the right path and that your faith is genuine.

Number one, you have a passion to obey.

That's number one.

I didn't say you obey all the time because you're human and you're going to fall, but your passion, when you do fall, you're convicted and there's a sadness in your heart.

So you're not the person that says, oh man, I know this is wrong, but I'm saved by grace through faith, so it's okay.

No, no.

You're what we call a grace abuser.

You've never really understood the gospel.

Now, I'm not saying you won't fail.

You may, but there will be conviction minute.

Number two, you feel the conviction of the Spirit when you fall.

Unless you've been handed over to depravity, when you sin against God, there's a conviction that comes.

The absence of conviction or apathy towards sinful behavior shows one of two things.

It shows that you've quenched the fire or that you're unregenerate.

Three, you genuinely wish you were better.

You genuinely wish you did better than you do, and you're going to spend your life trying.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

And four, you repent and receive God's grace when you sin.

You don't beat yourself up so much so that you leave.

You receive his grace, but you're intentional about doing better the next time.

Now, here's three signs that faith is not genuine, okay?

There are little to no effort in your life to repent, confess of your sins, and march toward a life that is Christ-like.

It doesn't even cross your mind that there should be any effort on your part to live a holy life.

Number two, there's little to no conviction when God's precepts are violated.

Not only do you not make an effort, but now you're not even convicted when you don't.

That's why Paul said in Ephesians 5, let no one deceive you, listen carefully, with empty words.

For because of such things, God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

The phrase in the Greek, empty words, these are words.

This is where somebody comes to you and says, oh, don't worry about it.

It's not that big a deal.

It's not wrong.

Come on.

Don't be deceived.

And three, you see grace as a license rather than a safety net.

Remember the example I love to use of the tightrope walker.

You get up on the ladder, there's the tightrope, and the tightrope is obedience.

And you're going to try to walk that line as best as you can, okay?

And then if you do fall, the grace of God is there to catch you.

But what a lot of Christians do, what do they do?

They see the rope and go, whee, and jump into the net.

There's no effort.

There's no conviction.

And you think it's all okay.

Now let me finish like this.

This is the true end.

Listen, how many of you are familiar with the word Shema?

Shema is the name of one of the most foundational prayers in the Bible taken directly from Deuteronomy 6, verse 4 through 5.

Shema Yisrael Adonai Elohimu Adonai Echad.

It means, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

In Mark chapter 12, a scribe approaches Jesus and asks, which of the commandments is the most important of all?

And Jesus answers by quoting the Shema directly from Deuteronomy.

The most important one, answered Jesus, is this.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

The Hebrew word shema fundamentally means to hear or to listen.

But in biblical Hebrew, the word carries a far more rich and active meaning than its English translation.

Shema includes hearing and action.

It assumes that listening and hearing always leads to doing.

So in modern English, hearing is often seen as a passive physical sense, like sound waves approach.

It hits our ears, but we don't necessarily act on them.

But in ancient Hebrew, hearing and responding are inseparable.

In fact, there's not even a word in Hebrew, a standalone word, that means obey.

No word.

Instead, Shema...

encompasses both concepts.

To hear is to obey and to obey is to hear.

So if someone hears God's voice and doesn't act on it, biblical Hebrew considers that person having not heard or listened.

And when God tells Israel to shema, which he often does, he's not just asking them to let the sound register.

He's calling them to give their full attention.

to comprehend the instruction and alignment.

This is it, to align their lives.

In fact, in Jesus' day, pious Jews would recite the Shema twice daily, morning and evening.

It was the summit of the law.

And Jesus made it clear, this is the totality of the law, alignment with God.

alignment.

That's what the obedience that comes from faith is all about, to get you to a point where your life is aligned with the kingdom of God in which you say you are a full-fledged member.

That's what it's about.

You look back at the illustration of the Walt Disney concert hall.

The contractors listened to the architect, read the blueprints, and acknowledged the plans, but then they made their own modifications based on what they thought was better, faster, cheaper.

In English, we'd say they heard the instructions, but they didn't obey.

In Hebrew, the moment they ignored the blueprints, they ceased to shema.

So that means that if you want to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, it's not passive.

It means that you have a posture of active, wholehearted obedience and alignment.

And you understand that salvation does not come from faith and obedience, faith alone.

but that obedience does come from true faith.

And true obedience understands the motivation behind the precepts.

And if you love God, you will keep his commandments.

And true faith desires conformity to the image of Christ.

And finally, God's blessings are directly tied to his commands.

Now, here's how I want to end.

That was the last illustration, but not the last point.

Can I tell you?

For many of you, listen, your life is in a mess because you've spent your life violating God's precepts.

There's a cause and effect.

And God still loves you and forgiveness is there.

But for some of you, your life is a wreck because of the decisions that you've made and somehow you want to blame God.

Not too many years ago, on a Saturday night, there was a lady that came up to the front.

She was in tears.

And I went down after the service and sat down to talk to her.

And she was weeping and she was saying, well, I don't know why God hates me.

I'm about to lose my kids.

And I listened to her story.

She's losing her kids because she's been on drugs driving with the kids in the car.

Tell me how God is responsible for that.

Now, that wasn't the time to say that to her.

So I prayed with her, but I told her, you need to keep coming.

You need to hear the word of God and how it can transform.

But most of the issues in our lives.

are a violation of the precepts God has given to you, motivated out of love.

Psalm 1 tells us that the one who walks, the one who stands, the one whose delight is in the law of God, we are told that the one whose delight is in the law of God, that person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither away.

So in other words, if you want your life to prosper and you want to experience shalom, hue, and flourishing, your first step is to do what the Word of God tells you to do in your marriage, with your children, in your church, in your community, everything.

So this is a weekend for everybody to repent.

Tell God, I am sorry for living my life in my own parameters and violating yours.

Have the courage to say, God, I repent right here and now of these areas of my life where I'm trying to take over, and I'm going to submit to your word.

And then you pray this, God, show me areas of my life that I'm violating your word.

Oh man, when you say that to God goes, Okay.

We're going to get your life straightened out, baby.

And then he starts speaking to you through your devotions on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday in your prayer.

Please, I, as your pastor, I'm not here to condemn you because you're saved by grace through faith.

That's not my point in this.

My point is if you want to live that flourishing life, at some point, at some point you've got to say, God, all right, help me out here.

I want, I have the desire to obey you.

And trust him that if you do, If you do what he asks you, your life is going to have shalom.

If you're Shema, then shalom is the ramification.

Amen, everybody?

Amen?

Yeah.

Father, thank you for your goodness and grace, and I pray that our people would not have felt beaten up.

That's not my point, but I pray they would see an opportunity.

to love you, to serve you, to willingly place themselves under you as you are our master.

But you're the kind of master that loves us so much that all your precepts are designed to save and to give life, not restriction, but protection.

Continue to bring revival to us as we serve and follow you, knowing that the abundant life you came to bring is ours.

As we meditate on your law day and night, we will be planted like a tree by streams of water.

Everything we do will prosper in Christ's name.

Everybody said, amen.