Okay, something’s got to change. That is the title of today’s sermon. Father, I pray that you would show us how perfect your grace is. Show us how praiseworthy and glorious you are, jesus, how much better and brighter and more perfect you are than everything this world offers us. In your name, we pray Amen.
All right, we’re going to finish up the second half of 2 Corinthians, chapter 7, today, and so I got two jokes for you. I’m just going to kick it off, right with jokes. Speaking of change, are you surprised how little people change? Actually, the process is the same. They just have smaller clothes. No offense, all right, my wife said that she was angry with me because of my obsession with wearing different clothes like every half hour. Right, and I said wait, wait, wait, don’t be angry with me, I can change. All right, you just threw them back at me. They’re untransferable, non-transferable.
Jesus points. All right, it says in 2 Corinthians. We’re starting in verse 17. But as God has distributed to each one Jesus points, see, distributed as the Lord has called each one. So let him walk. And so I ordained in all the churches. So this means you have everything you need when you have Jesus, when you got Jesus, you have everything that you need.
There’s a huge temptation to become something more or become something different than what you are. When you came to Jesus, like you need something more. God does have a purpose for you and it says that he has distributed to each one. That means he has chosen your life for you. He chose when you would be born, to who you would be born, what nation you would live in. All the things of your life he chose specifically for you and it was all for the purpose that he could call you At some point in your life. He would call you to be his, his friend, and then to be his instrument in this world that he’s placed you in. That was the purpose for your life. Sometimes people say what is the purpose of my life? I want my life to have meaning. I want my life to have purpose. Your purpose was that you would be called and that you would then be God’s instrument, to know him and then be used by him. Because God is giving. That’s what the word distributed means. God was, he’s out there, distributing. He’s giving. He gives you life. Then he calls you to live that life with him and it says walking with him. You’re supposed to walk with him. He says so, let him walk Once you’ve been called. He says your purpose now is to walk with him. He says so, let him walk Once you’ve been called. He says your purpose now is to walk with me. God didn’t save you so that you could do a bunch of stuff for him. He didn’t save you because he needs people to vacuum. He saved you to walk with him or walk right next to me. That’s cool. It’s totally cool, guys. No worries In the churches, paul taught every church the same exact principle when you have
Jesus, you have everything that you need.
You don’t need something. You don’t need anything to change on the outside, which means your circumstances when you’re born again on the inside. That is where life comes from. What more could God give you than he’s already given you? I want you to think about that question. What more could God give you than he’s already given you when he gave you Jesus? Did God give you just a little bit of Jesus when you got saved, and then you have to really work hard to get all of the Holy Spirit or all of Jesus? No, it says. God filled you with all the fullness of himself when you believed, and this is what you’ve been called to. We don’t live a life begging for scraps from God. We live a life thanking him for an abundant life of grace. We abound in praise and thanks for this abundant life that he’s already given to us.
So does God want me to become more religious? Everyone should shout no, no one gets Jesus points because no one shouted. Just kidding. You should be throwing tomatoes at me when I ask silly questions like that. Does God want me to become more religious? No, look what he says. Was anyone called while circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised, because circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. So we’re not going to understand this verse if you’re not wearing grace glasses, if you haven’t been with us through the 13, 14 weeks that we’ve been learning about his grace really hardcore.
You’re going to read this and you’re going to be like oh okay, so I need to follow the 10 commandments, but that’s not what he’s talking about, because when you have the grace glasses on, you’re not going to see a relationship with God as a religious list of rules, because that’s what our tendency is, that’s what so many churches struggle with is they make
church and God about a religious list of rules. You know what one rule they had back in the day that they really loved Circumcision Woo. They were big fans. You know why? Because it set you apart from all the dirty people. It set you apart from all the sinners. They were big fans. And that’s exactly what happens today. Churches and we get obsessed with specific rules that we think are easy to follow. Oh, I don’t struggle with that temptation, so I can just make that the rule that shows how cool I am and how godly I am and how great I am. If we don’t have grace glasses. We will act like that. We will behave like that.
When he says keeping the commands of God, he’s not talking about the old commandments of law, but the new commandments of faith and love. So the law had anyone know here’s an opportunity for Jesus points how many commands are in the Old Testament? Who said Ten? You’re way off. There’s ten big ones. But then there’s I hear you saying it 613, alan. Okay, you get three Jesus points. You get seven Jesus points minus two for Mark. Just so you guys know Jesus points are all fake. You guys know this, right. Okay, it’s all fake because God doesn’t give Jesus points. Okay, right, so there’s 613 laws and commands in the old covenant. Anyone can name them all. Alan, no, just kidding, of course not all right, because that’s a system that nobody could keep all of it. I mean, have you ever tried to keep the 10? You can’t even do it for an hour. We’re already breaking them already. Probably.
No, the old covenant has its rules. The new covenant has different commands. So the command in the new covenant is faith and love, faith and love. Faith in Jesus is what the new covenant demands. So you’re never going to be perfect, but if you have faith in Jesus, god gives you perfection. You’re not going to keep all the law, but if you have faith in Jesus, god gives you his life in exchange for your life and you are now perfect. You have now kept the law, even though you personally didn’t keep the law. Jesus kept the law, but his righteousness is credited to you. It’s given to you for free. That’s how the new covenant works. That’s the command. You have to trust in Jesus. If you don’t trust in Jesus and you still trust.
Well, I go to church a lot, so God will see me as holy and righteous. That will not work. You’ll get to heaven and God says why should I let you into my heaven? And you’ll say because I went to church and I was a good person and my parents were Christians and I was an American, I was born in Texas. And God will say I’m sorry, but that’s way not good enough. You have to be more perfect than the perfect person that ever lived. You have to have perfect righteousness to enter my perfect heaven. Because I’m kind of perfect here, guy, all we can plead is Jesus. That’s the only thing. Why should I let you into my heaven? Only because of Jesus, because my trust is in him, my faith is in him. And he’ll say enter in to my joy, my beloved’s child. We’ll already know, but yeah. So faith is the command and love is the command.
Faith in Jesus and the love of Jesus living through us. This describes relationship. Okay, 613 rules is there any relationship in those rules? Meh, no relationship. It is all do this and live, don’t do it and die. All performance-based religious living. We have relationship. Jesus, I actually trust in you and Jesus, I need you to come in me and live out your love. I have faith in him and he lives his love through me after he gives his love to me. That’s very relationship-centered, isn’t it? And that’s the difference between law and grace. I believe in him and he fulfills his loving promises to me. So faith and love, faith and love, they go together. That’s the commands of Jesus.
Let’s read Galatians 5, 6, and see if we see that. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything. Wow, he says the same thing there as we just read right. Then he says Then he says but faith working through
love. So that’s how the gospel works Faith working through love. Why doesn’t circumcision matter? Or any religious rule? He just picked that one because that was the big one that everyone loved, because in Christ we have a union with Christ. So rules don’t avail, rules don’t work, rules don’t change Christians. Our new lives, through this new covenant that we’ve been given, are faith-based, not rule-based. So we trust in Jesus exclusively. We have to trust in him exclusively and Jesus shares his love to us and through us, and this describes again the relationship we have with God, or we call it our union with Christ. I trust in him. He lives through me. It’s not religion. It’s not a list of rules or outward measurements of how good or bad we are. It’s a life of faith in him, and then he lives through us. I’ve said the same thing like four times in four different ways, but we’re never going to stop talking about this, because this is the gospel he lives through us.
Are we sure this is about the commands of Jesus? Are we sure that’s what it means? Well, let’s read 1 John 3.23. It says and this is his commandment that we should believe, that’s faith, right On the name of his son, jesus and love. Do you see him again? The two go together always love one another, as he gave us commandment. So twice John says this is his commandment faith, love. That’s his commandment. Do we get it? Is it clear enough? Yes, that’s it.
The way of Jesus, the way of the gospel, the way of the new covenant is to trust him and then his love. Let his love overwhelm you and flow through you to other people. But let’s look at where Jesus actually told us this himself, so let’s let him speak for himself. In John 6, 28 and 29, it says Then they said to him what shall we do that we may work the works of God? And Jesus answered and said to them this is the work of God, that you believe in him, who he sent. This is as clear as you could be about the believe part, the faith part. You can do nothing to measure up to God’s perfect standard.
So God set us free by the life and death of Jesus, and believing that is now our life. There is no law that we can obey that can change all the rules we broke. When you, when someone breaks the law, what do you call them? A lawbreaker? It doesn’t matter which law they broke. They are a lawbreaker. It is now their identity.
So God offers us grace instead of laws. He promises to save all who put their trust in Jesus exclusively. Our trust has to be exclusively in him, not mixing him with anything else, not just to save you. So when Jesus says you believe and then you’re saved, yes, we’re saved, but it’s not just to save you, but he saves you to invade you. He saves you to invade you, to come in and live through you. God says he’s going to take over your inner life by replacing your invisible spirit that was dead to God, with his Holy Spirit that’s alive to God. And that is what Jesus says how we do the good works that we’re supposed to do. We’re supposed to do good works. We’re supposed to be nice. We’re supposed to be kind. We’re supposed to be loving All the things we’re supposed to do. How? By believing in his sufficiency. Then what? Well, look at what Jesus says about the next part, john 13, 34.
A new command might give to you that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. Okay, now I gotta pause right here, because in the law, in the Old Testament, the message of the law was to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Remember, they actually came to Jesus. Some lawyers came to Jesus and they’re like hey, jesus, what’s the greatest commandment in the law? What did he say? Love God with all your heart. Love your neighbor as yourself. Right, that is completely different than this. This is a new command, because those commandments were laws Love God or what you die. Okay, so let me tell you We’ve all broken this command. Okay, I’ll prove it to you.
Do you love God? Yes, I love God. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Do you love God. Yes, I love God. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no. Do you love God the way he deserves to be loved? All of us should say no, because that’s the law-based version of love. Okay, it’s you do it. You do it perfectly, or you die Then. Do you love other people? Of course, I love other people. No, you don’t. Do you love other people the way they deserve to be loved, at all times, even though we’re acting like goobers? No, we don’t. We fail because that’s the law.
This is totally different than that old covenant commandment to love God and love others. Is loving God and loving others wrong? Is it bad? No, it’s perfect. But Jesus is giving us something new and something different. It’s rooted the way. This is different. Is this Ready? This is so cool. It’s rooted in the love Jesus has for us.
He says as I have loved you. Do you see that difference there, those words not included in the old covenant Love God, love others. Why? Because I said so. That’s law. This is love one another. Why, as I have loved you, let my love sink into you, transform you and then allow it to leak out of you.
This love we have now in the new covenant is a reflection of the love we receive and walk in in the new covenant of grace. There’s nothing you have to produce, you’re simply reflecting it. You know the moon is not bright, the moon is a rock. But we look up at the sky and we’re like, oh, the moon’s so bright. Oh, you scientifically inaccurate person. The moon is simply what Reflecting the light of the sun. So be the moon. The new covenant says be the moon, reflect the light of the sun. Oh, I just got that. That was a good one. You don’t even have to pay extra for that one. That one’s right through me, from the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit empowers us to love this way, to live this way, not with rules. He’s not going to tell you you should love. He’s
going to be like look how much I love you and go do whatever you want. That’s scary. You can’t tell people to do whatever they want. Yes, you can, because they’re going to do whatever they want anyway. If you connect them to the love of Christ. His love will actually transform what you want to do, and that is called the freedom with which Christ has set us free. Do you get to do whatever you want? Yes, you will. Anyway, you’re going to do what you want, but his love transforms what brings you joy. And now, sin won’t ever satisfy you again.
Once you’ve tasted his love, what could be better? What was the first thing we’re learning today? If you have Jesus, you don’t need anything else. You don’t need anything else. Alright, your life isn’t about how good you follow Jesus or the rules, sorry. Your life isn’t about how good you follow the rules, but in your relationship with Jesus of faith and love. So now, when we totally understand what Paul is thinking when he says circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters. It’s not about rules, it’s about receiving his love through faith and then his love living through you. Those are the commands of Jesus Faith and love, faith and love, faith and love. Memorize it. What does Jesus command me to do? Faith and love. My faith towards him, his love towards me. That’s what changes our life. Well, what about my circumstances? Will Jesus change my life in that way?
He says this let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. What does this mean? It means don’t follow Jesus for him to change the same calling in which he was called. What does this mean? It means don’t follow Jesus for him to change the outward things in your life, but don’t be surprised when he does either. Jesus always works from the inside out, okay, so don’t focus on things on the outside. Focus on are you receiving his love on the inside, and then the outward stuff will take care of itself. But he says don’t seek those things, just be content to remain in the place in which you were called.
He says were you called while a slave? Don’t be concerned about it. Easy for him to say right, but if you can be made free, rather use it. He says yeah, you might get set free. God might work that out. Don’t focus on it, don’t worry about it. Don’t be concerned about it. Just receive the love of the Lord and let him take care of your life.
For he who is called for, he who is called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freed man. Likewise, he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freed man. Likewise, he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price. Do not become slaves of men, brethren. Let each one remain with God, with God in the state in which he was called. So Jesus changed your identity, which changes how we view everything. That’s putting on the grace glasses.
Okay, I see the world now through what he says about me, what he did for me. So I am not a slave. I’m a missionary of grace in this horrible company that I work for. I’m a missionary of Jesus wherever I’m at. I’m not a slave. God’s in control of my life. God can move me out if he wants, or he can keep me here. It does not matter to me where I am. That’s the freedom we have. You are free to not give anything, a single anything, about where you’re at or your circumstances, because God is with you and God will move you and God will keep you and God will uphold you. Nothing matters because Jesus loves me so much. That’s why this is so crazy, and this freedom is something the world cannot understand. What do you mean? Your life is terrible. Your marriage sucks. Your kids are this, your family’s that? Your job is this. Don’t you want things to change? Jesus says when you have me, you don’t need anything to change. I am everything for you. I’m your whole life. I will meet every single one of your needs. I’m not a slave. I’m God’s spy, infiltrating the kingdom of darkness with his light and love. I was free to do whatever I wanted, but now I’m free to do what my Father in heaven puts in my heart, and he’ll make the way for that to happen.
We’re now in verse 25. What about my relationships? Will they change? What if I’m engaged and I become a believer? Should I abandon that relationship? Well, those are some good questions.
Let’s see what he says Now concerning virgins or people who are not yet married. I have no commandment from the Lord yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord, in his mercy, has made trustworthy. So I suppose, therefore, that it is good, because of the present distress we’ll talk about that in a second that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless, such will have trouble in the flesh. But I would spare you.
Probably because the present distress and what he’s talking about here. It’s probably because Rome was torturing Christians at this moment, burning them alive and saying recant, and tell me who you’re. You know who you. You know Batman. Where is he? Right, john, we had a Batman marathon this week. Yeah, so they were torturing Christians and it’s hard to you know, when you have a wife and they’re like we’re going to torture your wife right in front of you, unless you recount. It’s hard to go through that. It’s a really rough thing. So you know, that’s probably what they would go through.
But he says but I say this, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on, those who have wives should be as though they had none, and those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use this world as not misusing it. Basically, what he’s saying here is everything in your life, life should be about the gospel and the kingdom of God, not yourselves. So if you’re married, he wants you to stay married and love your wife. But it’s not even about your happiness, it’s about the kingdom of God. You need to love your wife because it’s about the kingdom of God, not about you. Like we talked about last week, if you’re single, great, it’s still about the kingdom of God. That’s why God has you in that place. So all of the lesson is the same in this chapter when you have Jesus, you have everything that you need. He is sufficient for your joy, for your happiness, and so many things can become distractions to us, but when we’re focused on Jesus and his kingdom that’s what he’s saying is the right way. Jesus and his kingdom that’s what he’s saying is the right way.
Again, for the form of this world is passing away, but I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord how he may please the Lord but he who is married cares about the things of the world how he may please his wife. There is a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be both holy in body and spirit, but she who is married cares about the things of the world how she may please her husband. Again, there’s nothing wrong with being married. It’s not bad, it’s just focused love. So you’re focusing all your love on one person, and when you’re not married, you can focus your love on loving all the world. And this I say for your own profit, not that I might put a leash on you but for what is proper that you may serve the Lord without distraction. See, the point is the distraction part.
But if any man thinks he’s behaving improperly toward his virgin or his betrothed, like someone he’s engaged with, if she’s past the flower of youth, that means she’s ready to get married and thus it must be. Let him do as he wishes. So they would be betrothed when they’re like 10 years old, really young, and then they would arrive at the age where it’s time to get married and people are like, should we get married? And he’s like, yeah, get married, it’s fine, you want to get married, get married. He says he does not sin, sin, let them marry. Nevertheless, he who stands steadfast in heart, having not no necessity, but has power over his own will, and has so determined in his heart that he will keep his virgin, his fiance, you know he does well. So the one who gives her a marriage does well, but the one who does not give her in marriage does better.
Okay, all of it is to say your life isn’t about the distraction and if you focus on Jesus you can be in any situation and be good. What if I’m widowed is the next question he’s going to answer. He says a wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives, but if her husband dies, she is at liberty to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord. But she is happier if she remains as she is. According to my judgment, and I think I also have the Spirit of God so when it comes to relationships, they all take, they all require investment and effort. Okay, relationships all do that. Love costs our time and our attention and our sacrifice, and so getting married is signing up to love one person more than everyone else, including yourself. That’s what marriage is.
In the Bible, paul says that’s good, it’s really good. But there’s another way to live where you can love everyone with all your energy, and that’s cool too. But you have to have the gift of singleness or self-control to be able to serve God in that way. Okay, so it’s clear. But here’s the main point again, going back to the top of our chapter here, verse 14, it says or 17,.
But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, let him so walk, so God has distributed, god has given each one of us grace From our very lives. You were born. That was a grace God gave you. He chose your family, you know to this. Eventually we meet him, we become a believer and a new relationship with him. It’s all free from self-life and completely dependent on Jesus for everything.
Did you choose where you were born? Did you choose who your parents were? You’re like no, I would have never chosen those yokels, of course not. God chose those things for you. Those are really great. God distributed, he gave as and that’s really important to me God didn’t make a mistake of where we were. You know, he could have put me 500 years ago, but I would have died in the plague, I’m sure, because, like, yeah, I just couldn’t make it then, you know, but they probably couldn’t stand Twitter, so we’re all good.
He calls us, then, to walk with him in all the circumstances of our life. Yeah, you don’t get to choose the circumstances of your life. You don’t get to choose when you get cancer. You don’t get to choose if you have kids or don’t have kids. You don’t get to choose when people die. You don’t get to choose when you get sick. You don’t get to choose these things. But God has called you, invited you to walk with him in these circumstances. He promises he will be there always. He’ll never leave you, never forsake you. Amen. He will always supply what you need if you ask him, if you trust in him. He promises to give us guidance and wisdom. He promises to treat us as his beloved children. He’ll never abandon you. Do you know? God will never be angry at you?
That’s a lie of Satan that God is mad at you and you’re like well, isn’t God holy? Of course he’s angry at sin and I’ve heard pastors hammer churches and hammer people saying God’s angry at you if you’re participating in sin. And it’s nothing but a big, fat, goober-faced lie. Because God, it says, jesus became the propitiation for us. You ever heard that word propitiation? Everyone say propitiation. Now don’t you feel all smug and like you’re wearing some fancy clothes? Propitiation is a big, fancy Bible word.
That means Jesus satisfied the wrath and anger of God towards sin. He satisfied the wrath of God towards sin. So God was angry at sin, absolutely. But he took his son and poured out all of his wrath, beat his son let’s just put it in an image beat his son until he was a bloody pope and poured out every ounce of anger he could possibly have at all. The sin in the world, every murder, every abuse, all the small sins, every single thing. He poured out on Jesus until he was
done Jesus, a bloody mess on the cross, so that when Jesus rose from the dead and we are in him and he is in us, god can look at you and say I will never get angry at you for something. I already got angry at Jesus for you. I already poured it out. I’m okay, I understand that you sinned, but it’s been paid for. Accept this grace, believe in this grace.
If you are going to live by grace and understand what we’re talking about here today, you’re going to have to deal with this. God is not mad at you ever, but I’m literally doing the bad thing right now, isn’t God? Doesn’t he have to hide his face from me because I’m such a sinner? No, run to him, don’t run away from him. Run to him, don’t run away from him. Run to him. But you know what we feel like. We feel like, ooh, I just screwed up. So now I need to be in time out with Jesus, time out with the Lord. I’m sure I’ll get struck by lightning if I go to church today. I’m sure God doesn’t want me to just be with him in his word right now because I just cussed out my this or that or did whatever. No, he’s not angry with you. He invites you to him.
Only the devil says you should have shame. So the devil puts an idea in your mind to sin. And then when you do sin, the devil said look at you, you’re such a sinner, look who you are, god’s holy. Well, he wasn’t reminding you of that before you did it, but after you do it. That’s what he twisted around to be. So that’s how we deal with this. This is how it sets us free.
Our response to his grace him distributing all this grace to us, giving us all this grace is to trust him in faith and then allow his love to leak out of our lives. And this only happens through relationship, and the relationships in our life is where we can love, where love is. That’s the only place we can love. You can’t love people on TV. No matter how hard you try, you can’t do it. You can only love the physical people who you have contact with, and the biggest one is going to be your marriage and then your kids.
So pour out your love on the people that you’re connected with people, that you’re connected with the people around you need to feel and experience the undeserved, unearned love of Jesus, especially the goober sitting next to you. That person needs you know. Elbows flying Violence no, just kidding. We desperately need to know and feel the love of God so when that’s impacted, you reflect it to the people around you. That’s what this chapter is about. I hope it goes with you through this week and his love transforms your mind. I don’t know that wasn’t in my notes about God never being angry with you, so that probably was for someone special here today. It was for you. All right, 10 Jesus points for me, just kidding. All right, guys, we are ready to worship the Lord and respond to his love. So would you guys all stand with me?
Father, we turn our hearts and eyes towards you to believe in your grace, to believe in the work Jesus did for us. Jesus, as you hung on the cross, as you received the wrath of God, the punishment for sin, jesus, you were thinking about me, us. We are your children. Now we believe in you. And as you rose from the dead victorious over all the sin, paying the price completely, the price of sin having been paid by your blood, jesus, you rose in victory and glory, and so now we know that we can live a resurrected life. Also, father, fill our hearts with your love. Keep our eyes focused clearly on what you have done for us and the life that you’ve promised us and given us, a life of union with you. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Lord, flow through us in our relationships with our marriages and our families, and to each other here in the church and then to the whole world. Let us be filled with love. Open doors for us to love and do good works.
Jesus, we trust you when the enemy comes to deceive us and to make us feel shame for our behavior and our failures and our weaknesses. Jesus, we trust you. We’re going to look to you. We’re going to believe your word instead of what the enemy puts into our minds. Father, we need you to set us free from all sin. I believe and trust that you’re going to save Michael. This week we ask again. We lift him up to you and ask you would bring him back. Leave the 99 sheep and go after the one who has lost Jesus and bring him back to you. We pray In Jesus’ name, amen.