Sanctification: Law And Gospel - [1 Corinthians 6:9-20]

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I have a little quiz for you this morning, dear congregation. I'm going to read you some verses, and you tell me, and you can say it out loud if you prefer.
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Are these law, or are these gospel? Teacher, what is the great commandment in the law?
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And he said to them, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
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This is the great and first commandment, and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
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Law or gospel? Law. Good. You weren't too sure yourself, but I'll affirm that.
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That's law. Good. Law or gospel? There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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There you go. Excellent. Law or gospel? For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and to do them.
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Law. Good. Law or gospel? Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.
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There you go. And one more. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.
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Gospel. Very good. Martin Luther would say, if you know the difference, you should be called a doctor of divinity.
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So I'm going to make sure after the service, Tom is the loudest I'm going to call Dr. Bertrand. Kind of has a nice ring to it.
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The gospel, as you know, dear congregation, is different than the law.
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And the law commands, it accuses, it curbs, it convicts, it guides, it tells us that we're sinful people in front of a thrice holy
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God. It talks about our sins and what's required of us. One man said the law is what it is we are and what are not to do, namely obey him perfectly, both inwardly and outwardly.
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He promises eternal life on the condition that I keep the law perfectly my whole life long.
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On the other hand, he threatens eternal damnation if I do not keep every provision of the law my whole life long.
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On the flip side, the gospel, even by definition, is good news. The gospel gives, it forgives, it justifies, redeems, saves, encourages, comforts, promises, declares, and when the law says we're sinful, the gospel says
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Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. The gospel says I have good news for you.
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This is what God in Christ has done on behalf of you, a sinner. God doesn't demand in the gospel, but he offers and he gives.
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The law says do this and live. The gospel says Jesus did this and lived so that you might live.
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Jesus obeyed the law for us. That's gospel good news. It's important to get this right.
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Many people are confusing the two and it really is important for us when it comes to even sanctification.
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It's one thing to show the law to a sinner, to say you need Jesus and now here's Jesus, but what role does the law have in the
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Christian's life? What role does the gospel have in the Christian's life? What role does the
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Lord Jesus have in your life as a Christian? Sinclair Ferguson said, the ability to focus our gaze, fill our minds, and devote our hearts to Jesus Christ is a basic element in real
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Christian growth. He went on to say, years ago
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I had a somewhat painful encounter with a tell us and we'll do it mentality. Halfway through a
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Christian students conference where I was speaking on the assigned theme knowing Christ, I was summoned to meet with a deputation of staff members who seemed to feel duty bound to confront me with the inadequacies of my first two expositions of scripture.
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Can you imagine you have Sinclair Ferguson come and he's teaching and two messages in, the elders pull him to the side.
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Here's what they said, you have addressed us for two hours, they complained, and yet you have not told us one single thing to do.
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Impatience to be doing, he had impatience with the apostolic principle that it is only in knowing
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Christ that we can do anything, or Sinclair said, or so it seemed to me at the time.
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We have to talk more about the Lord Jesus to, let me rephrase that, we have to talk about the
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Lord Jesus because what is the motivation to obey the Christian life? The law doesn't motivate, it tells us the standard, but it doesn't give us any power, it gives us no animation.
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The holy living that's required of us by the Lord Jesus cannot be derived from law only.
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So this morning we're going to do something different, I was gone last week and then will be gone next week, I don't know why
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I have to go out of town last week, something just suddenly came up, but I'll have to be gone. How do you officiate your daughter's wedding, that's what
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I want to know. I'm going to have Luke stand at the front and he'll greet everyone and then he'll say who gives this woman to be married to this man, and so then
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I'll stand there and then Luke and I will switch places. Thinking about law gospel for motivation in the
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Christian life, what if somebody were to come to you and said, I'm struggling with a sin, they're
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Christian people and they're your friend and confidant and they said, I'm struggling with anxiety, what would you tell them?
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What if they came to you and said, I'm struggling with pornography, what would you tell them? I'm struggling with how to be content, what would you say to them?
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A friend of mine had a couple of lists of how to deal with sexual sin and avoid it, and here's list number one for church leaders, don't say it can't happen to you, repent of your self -righteousness in this area, put all the needed safeguards in place and keep them there, don't have a plurality in place, have one in practice, be accountable, make your wife your partner in purity, when in doubt, err on the side of caution, never forget that we are in a spiritual battle, would those be good things to do?
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There's certainly some good wisdom found there. The second article is entitled avoiding slip -ups, 10 tips that may help you break a pornography habit, here are the tips, plan your week, avoid becoming overconfident and thinking that you're over the problem, remember you aren't able to do it by yourself, avoid thinking if she would do this or that or if he would do this or that, avoid thinking
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I've changed, why hasn't everyone else? Don't think you can change overnight, set goals of abstinence, seek out and cultivate good friends, recognize certain times and conditions that cause your temptations to come most strongly, some good advice there.
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Now here's the fun part, the two lists, who wrote them? The first list was written by an evangelical pastor and the second list was written by the national
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Mormon leadership, what's the difference between the two? Both were all what?
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Due, they were all law, nothing to do with the Lord Jesus, helpful hints, helpful advice but nothing but law.
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So for this morning, we're going to take a detour out of 2nd Peter, I did hear from one person that told me, we missed you
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Pastor Mike but Steve did a great job and it was kind of refreshing not to hear about false teachers this
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Sunday, it was last week. So we'll do one more with that, I'd like you to turn your
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Bibles to 1st Corinthians 6 and we're going to use this as a template so I can remind you that when it comes to sanctification that God works in you and you respond with holy living, that it's not just don't do something or do something, it's don't do and do with the addition that this is who the
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Lord and Savior is, that is to say when it comes to sanctified holy living, godly living, that there's both law, due and gospel.
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Now of course sometimes if you look at the book of Ephesians, it would be easy, first three chapters, here's who you are in Christ, chapters 4, 5 and 6, here's how you should live out the
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Christian life with all kinds of good news in the first three chapters, law in the second three chapters and it's kind of easy,
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Colossians, same thing, chapters 1 and 2 and a few verses in chapter 3, here's who you are in Jesus and then in light of who you are, then do these things as children of God, do them.
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But when it comes to 1st Corinthians, it's kind of more mixed up a little bit and so I want you to see for yourself in 1st
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Corinthians 6 that there's both law when it comes to sexual sin and sexual purity and there's gospel and this paradigm will help you whether it's anxiety, you're depressed, you're not content, you're not evangelizing enough, whatever issue you have,
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I don't love my wife enough, I don't submit to my husband enough, what is the solution and if the solution is simply do more, you've forgotten what
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Christian sanctification is. So we're going to look at 1st Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 to 20 and when my friend showed me, you see law and gospel both in this section, you're unable to unsee it.
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So I was kind of infected with this sight now and I can't unsee it and so therefore if it's convicting me, then of course
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I have an opportunity then to convict you this morning. So I want you to be able to see in here law for your guidance and norming and direction is important for you dear
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Christian but also who you are in Christ is important. So I'm going to read verses 9 through 20 and so I want you to see if you can find the law in here, you don't shout it out this time but just see if you can find it and I will tell you ahead of time, there are three commands, there are three laws when it comes to sexual sin.
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We're not antinomian, we're not anti -law, we're not just go do whatever you want and just be crazy and live like pagans, there are rules that norm the
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Christian life, can you spot them? There are three. Or do you not know 1st Corinthians 6, 9 that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God.
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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 revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God and such were some of you but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the
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Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful for me but not all things are helpful.
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All things are lawful for me but I will not be dominated by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food and God will destroy both one and the other.
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The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord and the Lord for the body and God raised the
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Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?
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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
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Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
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Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you whom you have from God?
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You are not your own for you are bought with a price so glorify God in your.
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Well here's the outline for this morning dear congregation. We're going to look at the three laws found in this section for Christians designed to help them with their sexual purity, your sexual purity, my sexual purity and then we're going to look at nine truths about the gospel found here, nine good news truths so that we are balanced so we're just not like leadership that tells us the only thing you need is law.
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You only need to do more. There is more to the Christian sanctification than do.
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There's also the motivation that we have because of who the Lord Jesus is.
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This could be for any category of sanctification but particularly today we're going to look at sexual purity and sexual sin and we're going to see that both law is important and good news gospel is important even for the
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Christian. Imperatives, three of them. The first one is found in verse nine, do not be deceived.
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When it comes to sins of all kinds and of course sexual sin as well you are not to be deceived.
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And you notice that again in verse nine or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
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Do not be deceived. It's easy to be deceived. Lots of people are deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, etc.
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will inherit the kingdom of heaven. I also found it interesting how many times do you not know, do you not know, do you not know?
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What was that, the Bill Withers song Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone? Right? I know,
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I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know. I used to have a kid, well I have the same kid but this particular kid would always say to me,
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I know dad, I know, I know. And I just kept thinking of that Bill Withers song all the time, I know, I know. They thought they knew everything and they didn't know.
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They were that kid that kind of before they thought about talking they'd pop the clutch of their mouth and just said
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I know. No, no, they didn't know. And it was difficult though,
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I understand that because part of the Corinthian lifestyle affected by the pagans and the
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Romans was just, it was just chaotic when it comes to sexual immorality and you'd have the thousand prostitutes priestess up on top of the hill at Corinth and they would descend on Friday for worship and it was just normal, seemed like everybody did it.
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But Paul said, no, you're not to do that, you're not to be deceived. You have to take
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God's moral laws because they reflect His nature seriously. This is not something you just go, well it's no big deal, don't be deceived.
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It's easy to be deceived. Our hearts deceive us. We say, well it's not really that big a deal or we're in love or what two consenting adults do in their own bedroom doesn't bother anyone.
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There's a lot on the line when it comes to this because those that practice this will not go to heaven.
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Hell is real to lose heaven. What a tremendous, awful loss that would be.
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H .E. Robertson said, this is a solemn roll call of the damned even if some of their names are on the church roll in Corinth whether officers or ordinary members.
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And I could ask everyone here, are you deceived when it comes to this? Are you buying into what the culture says?
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Are you thinking, well I just say I believe in Jesus but I can live whatever way I want to live?
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Lawless license? And the tricky part is, if we knew we were deceived we wouldn't be deceived anymore.
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So you have to be careful. Sin blinds, sin is deceiving. So no matter what anybody says you have to say to yourself,
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I don't want to be deceived when it comes to this. The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. The second law found in this section is found down in verse 18.
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The second law, and law is good and holy and right and it's not just good to preach to unbelievers the law but it's good to preach to believers because we need guidance as God's children.
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Verse 18, flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
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He tells you to run and then he tells you why you should run. The word flee there is where we get the word fugitive.
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And the fugitive runs. The fugitive flees. This is a command.
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Run for your lives. I think of Joseph. Remember Joseph and Potiphar's wife and he wasn't saying, you know,
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I'm bold and courageous and I can withstand this temptation. Joseph fled.
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Run for your lives. It's a present tense. There's always sexual sin enticing you so you've got to keep running.
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Keep running. It's urgent. And I could say and I look around the congregation if you're involved in sexual sin of any kind you ought to run.
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You ought to flee from it. With a person with some pixels. It doesn't matter. You need to run.
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If you're sexually sinning, flee. Craig Blomberg said the effects of gluttony are usually reversible by an increase in sweat and a decrease in calories.
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Some effects of illicit sex can never be undone but thankfully they can be forgiven.
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Memories, emotions and attachments stay with us for life although excessive promiscuity can eventually dull or numb our senses in certain ways.
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People say, well, you know, Christianity devalues a sexual relationship with a husband and wife.
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Opposite. On the contrary. Paul in the first century elevates this because it's so important.
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There are things that happen with a man and a woman combining them together in this intimate way.
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Self -commitment. It involves the whole person. The relationship to the body is unique and therefore sexual sin is simply a gratification of lust at any cost.
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Thirdly, the third law. Law is good. We're not antinomians here. We're blessed by our father because he loves us.
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Here's how you should live. Don't be deceived. Flee sexual immorality. And thirdly, did you spot it when
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I read the verses earlier? Verse 20, for you were bought with a price. So glorify
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God in your body. That's the third command. And I don't know if Paul is kind of thinking, you know what?
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Speaking of paying prostitutes there at Corinth at the mountain there with the priestess, you have been paid for by someone but it's the
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Lord God for holy purposes, not self -indulgence, not sex outside of marriage.
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Glorify God in your body. He does not say, well, you might catch a disease. He doesn't say you might get someone pregnant.
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You might be the laughing stock of the congregation. He says, no, there's a different reason, a primary reason, and that is you want to glorify
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God. Whether you eat or you drink or whatever you do, you glorify God with your body. And he'll go on in chapter seven to say the way you do it in marriage is one giving to another.
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And even there it'll say withholding is even sinful. Everything we do, we're supposed to give honor to the
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Lord. And I could ask you the question, dear congregation, are you glorifying God with your bodies?
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Imperatives are good, important. Anyone that says Christians don't need law, they're wrong.
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We need to be guided. We need to be normed. Our Father knows what's best for us. But is that all
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Paul does is just say, here's a list, right? If somebody called me or came into my office and they said,
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I'm struggling with this issue, I'm struggling with pornography. If I'm not careful, if you're not careful, this will be my advice only.
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You need to have accountability. You need to get an X -stop kind of, you know, protector on your screen.
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You need to exercise more. You need to love your wife more. You need to... the list could go on and on and on.
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None of those are wrong to give unless those are the only thing I give. If it's only law, law guides.
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That's it. Law tells me. Law's GPS. Stay on target. Stay on target or like mine, turn around when you can.
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It'll tell me I'm doing the right thing or the wrong thing, but there's no engine to get me to where I need to go.
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And the engine has to be... there's a God in eternity past that loved you and gave his son for you.
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And in light of that, don't you want to say, I want to do the right thing for his pleasure, for his glory.
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Not to get myself saved, not to keep myself saved, but because I'm saved, I like to operate out of gratitude for who
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God is. And so Christians need good news. Most of the time when
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I go to evangelical churches, I sit there and I get a list of all these extra things to do and five more takeaways and timeless truths.
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And they just give me not only the Bible law, which I like Bible law, but I don't like Bible law devoid of the gospel.
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And I just get eight more things to do, and it is crushing. And if Martin Luther sat in those congregations, he would be thinking,
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I'm in a Roman Catholic church without smells and bells. This is
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Rome. Rome is just law. Rome is just do. This is evangelicalism.
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You sit there and you just hear more, more, more. They say, you know what? We believe the gospel of Jesus.
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It's in our statement of faith. It's theoretical, but operational in the life of a Christian church.
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It's gone. And 39 minutes of preaching law cannot be rescued by a one minute little thing by saying, and by the way,
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Jesus died for you, rose from the dead and he's coming back. That is inadequate. That is insufficient. So what
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Paul does here, he gives you more, but I'm going to give you nine. I'm going to give you, if I can make it through nine great truths about who
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God is and what he's done for you, dear Christian. Of course, if you're not a Christian, you need the law to tell you that you're a sinner and you need the savior.
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But for Christians, we're going to see lots of good news sprinkled throughout this passage so that you can see it in Ephesians one to three is the, are the, are the great triumphant indicatives of what
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God has done. Four to six. Here's what we do. Corinthians is a little different. So you see them mixed together.
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And if you say to me, you know what? Nine to three, I know math a little bit. That's three times as many gospel truths as law.
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This is not a prescription, but it's just a good description. I think that'd be fair to say for every time you say to somebody, you should be accountable.
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You should pray more. You should do this. You should do that. You should read the Bible. You should memorize the scriptures. I think you need to make sure you're saying, but that's not it alone.
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That's not all. Somebody came to me once and they were sinning in a sexual way and, um, they were caught.
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And I remember kind of the old Mike style would be just give them law.
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And then at the very end I said, I would say, you know, I love you and hug the man. Well, when you go through this passage like this, it's the other way around.
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Now it's when someone comes, we rehearse repentance and forgiveness and then who God is and everything else.
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And then I hug at the very end and then I put the finger to the sternum of the man and I say, and don't you ever do this again.
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But instead of 50 minutes law and a little bit of love, now it's a lot of love, but still the sternum love a law.
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You got it. You guys are giving me the intense looks this morning.
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The whole point is in the life of a Christian, you say, I'd like to love my wife more.
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I'd like to honor my parents more. I'd like to submit to my husband more.
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Maybe you've been on the treadmill of law. Maybe that's all you've been doing. Do more, do more, do more, do more.
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By the way, we're having the Lord's supper today and here's one thing that it shouts against.
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Do more for right standing with God. That's not what it shouts. It shouts, it's all been done for you.
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And so three laws, nine gospel truths in verses six to nine.
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And I'm going to go outside of six to nine because there's an intro. And so great gospel truth, indicative number one, your saints go back to chapter one.
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If you would please. You can find probably nine in this section, but going back to chapter one,
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I want to make sure you see the intro of this great book. First Corinthians, first Corinthians chapter one, verse two.
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Look for the word saints there. You are saints. God made you a saint to the church of God, which is at Corinth to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus saints by calling with all who are in every place.
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Call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. So once again, if you're struggling with,
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I want to sue somebody, uh, their sexual immorality, there's division in the church. Uh, yes, law is good, but there are other factors.
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You're a saint. That's your, your name. And that's supposed to get you of course, to think, you know what?
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I might have been a filthy sinner and vile in a sexual way or any other way, but now
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I'm called a saint. And by the way, I didn't make myself a saint. God made me a saint.
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And it wasn't the church that said, if you've done enough miracles over 50 years, you're a saint. God calls every
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Christian, what a saint. That's amazing. And if you have a name in scripture that talks about the person himself,
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I say the name of the Lord God, we're talking about his character and his nature. You Christian who struggle with sin.
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I know I struggle with sin need regularly to remind yourself that God made you a saint. Paul needed to remind the
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Corinthians that they were saints so that they might live out who they are. Yes, this is the name that God has given me.
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Not on my achievement, not on what I've done. God set me apart and gave me the name saint.
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He doesn't start off by saying, do more, try harder living lives in relationship to sexual purity.
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You are a saint. It's be who you are, not try harder.
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You don't become a saint by your actions. God did it based on the work of the Lord Jesus. You're a saint.
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Not only that number two, God is faithful verses eight and nine first Corinthians chapter one verses eight and nine.
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You think about all the unfaithfulness that the Corinthians had, including in the sexual realm. Is there anybody faithful these days?
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Here's a good reminder for people who are less than faithful. Even as Christians, God's faithful who will sustain you to the end guiltless in the day of our
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Lord Jesus Christ. Verse nine, God is faithful by whom you were called in the fellowship of his son,
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Jesus Christ, our Lord. I mean, this society is so gross, so rotten, so sinful, so hyper sexual.
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Will I make it out at the till the end and I haven't been faithful the whole time and I've, I've sinned and I've struggled and been tempted and fallen to temptation.
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Will I make it out? God says to these saints at Corinth, he will confirm you to the end.
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Blameless. You're going to make it. Well, that makes me want to be motivated to live in a pure way.
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Say, well, Satan accuses me blameless based on the work of Jesus. Blameless.
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My conscience, it, it, it accuses me blameless. You're positionally blameless in God's eyes because Jesus has paid it all and God is faithful.
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He's not going to say, well, you know what? I paid for your past sins. My son did that.
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Your current sins and future sins. No, I paid for your sins when you were ungodly unbeliever, but now as a
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Christian, when you sin in this area, no, God is faithful.
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Whom you were called in the fellowship of the son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And when you study the original language, faithful has an emphasis to it.
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Faithful is God. You begin to think not of just yourself. Now you begin to think of who
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God is and how he's true and constant and reliable and steadfast. He perfects, he finishes
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God's faithful. I think that's interesting advice. Somebody comes, I'm struggling with pornography.
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This is not what we might normally do, but it's what we should do. Gospel truth.
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Number three, wash. Let's go back to first Corinthians chapter six. And what a great truth for those who have been impure in this area.
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As dirty as you might feel, as filthy as it might be, as many showers as you've taken to try to wash off the guilt of your conscience.
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What does the Bible say about Christians? He says, these people won't inherit the kingdom of God who live in this way.
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And then he says in verse 11, first Corinthians six and such were some of you.
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That's what you used to be. You're not that anymore, but you were washed by the way.
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Number four is going to be sanctified and number five is going to be justified in the name of the
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Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God, wash, sanctify, justified. By the way, every time you read the wall street journal, if you do our look on the domain name
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WSJ, that's what I want you to start thinking about. Washed, sanctified, justified, not wall street journal, not white single
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Jew, nothing like that. Is that even a thing? It must be.
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You're washed. You were washed and here's what Paul is trying to say. If God washed you and he regenerated you, you didn't wash yourself.
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This is not like self -baptism, self -cleansing. No, no. He washed you.
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Then why would you run back to the filth? Why would you go back and do the things that made you dirty, that made you needing need a wash?
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What great language here. This is a passive. You've been washed. God made you born again.
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He saved you not on the basis of deeds you've done in righteousness. He washed you.
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What wisdom of God? What kindness of God? Dead in trespasses and sins?
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Clean? No, dirty, but then he washed us. I mean, the man came to Jesus at night and he didn't know the first thing about truths that were eternal and Jesus said to him, truly, truly,
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I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Truly, truly,
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I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
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God washes. That's language right from Ezekiel 20, 36. I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness and from all your idols
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I will cleanse you and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
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This is not washing with hands, washing your body, this is internal washing. Cleanse, you're cleansed.
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Why go back to the old way of filth and shame? Why disgrace yourself with the old defilement?
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You're washed. Not only that, number four, you're sanctified, similar to being called saints, but here you're set apart for God.
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This is not progressive sanctification, this is not growing in grace, this is not holy living, this is a one -time act that we might say justification, but it is called sanctified here because it means you're special.
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Of course, if you come over to our home for Christmas time or Thanksgiving, we will make sure to give you
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Tupperware plates and paper cups because you're special.
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Of course not, we try to get out the best what? The best china, but that china we don't use every day, it's special, it's set apart, something for a special holy sanctified purpose, that is
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Thanksgiving and Christmas, right? And so if you've been taken out of the muck and the mire of sin, sexual sin and every other kind of sin, and now
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God says, you're my special possession, I'm your God and you're my people and I'm going to put you over here.
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Yes, you're living in the world, but you're my special person, you're sanctified and it took my son's life to sanctify you.
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It took him bearing the burden of my wrath to sanctify you and so you don't want to live this way anymore, you're special and you're for me and you're sanctified and set apart, that's the idea.
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Christians that struggle with sexual sin need to be told, you're sanctified, you're sanctified, so don't run off into sexual sin, you've been set apart.
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Not only that, but the JWSJ, you've been justified. 1
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Corinthians chapter 6 verse 11, such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified.
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You're like, how can he be saying that to these people at Corinth? Well, some that were listening certainly weren't saved because they live that kind of lifestyle, but some were struggling with this, some were sinning in this area and he does say it to them.
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You were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Sinless perfectionism doesn't exist in the life of a
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Christian. I've met several people in my life that have told me, as Christians, they don't sin anymore.
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I thought, well, A, that's just a sin that you just said that, and B, I'd like to talk to their wife just for a second.
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Justification. You say, you know what? No wonder this is the hinge that the church stands or falls on.
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This is the issue, justification. So, the Lord Jesus, think about it.
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Did the Lord Jesus ever sin in any way, shape, or form, including sexually?
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The answer is, God, no. May it never be. Forbid it. He never did. He was perfect.
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He was perfectly man, truly man, tempted in all kinds of ways, as Hebrews would say, but he never sinned.
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And do you know what justification? It is a declaration that God says, I see you now, sinful, sexually sinful person with a track record and a history and even struggle now,
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I see you as as clean as Jesus was clean in this area and every other area.
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You stand before God and you're sexually pure and clean as a spotless, sinless lamb was.
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Because Jesus gets all of our sexual sins and every other sins, past, present, future, and he pays for them and he intercepts the wrath of God, as it were, for us, as an advocate, because the
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Father sent him to do that very thing, because the Father loved sinners, the Son loved sinners and did that, and then the
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Spirit of God applies that death and life to our lives because he loves us. And now when
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God sees you, do you know what? I don't care what your past was in this area or any other areas.
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You, Christian, are justified. God sees you as pure. God sees you as clean. God sees you as perfect as Jesus is.
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You say, well, that just makes me want to go sin more then, because free from the law, you know,
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I can sin now without... There's a slogan. There's a wrong slogan. It's not even from the Bible.
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Free from the law, oh, blessed condition. I can sin as I want to and there is remission or something like that.
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That doesn't make me want to do that. If God's done that for me... I mean, can you imagine
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Jesus dying for every one of your sexual sins? How wrathful
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God must think about what those sins were like and then he punishes Jesus for it.
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To use 2 Peter language, that's like running back to the vomit that a dog would do. This declarative act of God, pronouncing us righteous in the sight of God the judge, in sight of the law, righteous, should make us out of humility and gratitude want to honor the
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Lord with our bodies. And if you're not struggling in this area with contentment or anything else, this is what
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God has done for you in Christ Jesus. This doctrine Luther said begets, nourishes, builds, preserves and defends the church of God and without it the church of God cannot exist for one hour.
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One writer said, how can the unrighteous come to inherit the kingdom of God? The unrighteous Corinthians were declared righteous by the king because they got credit for the righteous living of the
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Lord Jesus. For those that have fallen to sexual sin before Christians and after, if you don't understand justification of my faith, there will be a paralyzing guilt that you'll always have.
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You say, well I can't forget it, that might be true. But you are not condemned Christian for what you've done because Jesus has been condemned in your place.
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Isn't that some good news? I think I'm so happy for that. My past life, the guilt, the shame.
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Heidelberg Catechism, how are you righteous before God? Answer, only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Although my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all
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God's commandments and never kept any of them and am still inclined to all evil, yet God without any merit of my own of mere grace imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ.
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He grants these to me as if I've never committed any sin and as if I myself have accomplished all the obedience which
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Christ has rendered for me. If I only accept this gift with a believing heart, that doesn't make me want to live a sinful life.
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It makes me want to live. Number six, number six, the resurrection, the resurrection, triumphant, indicative gospel truth.
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Number six, that you ought to rehearse to yourself in any area of sanctification, including this area. Verse 14 of first Corinthians six,
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God and God raised the Lord resurrection and he will also raise us up by his power resurrected.
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Your body is going to get resurrected. It's going to be glorified. Yes, but your body is going to be literally resurrected.
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So don't defile it. Why would you want to defile your body in sexual sin or any other sin when your body goes past death?
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That is the antidote that Paul gives here. Alan Johnson said
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God is a future designed for and claim on our body. Fornication is incompatible with the future resurrection of the body because it rejects
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God's intended purpose for our body to worship and to serve him in obedient love.
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Your body's eternal. So why would you sin against the body? The resurrection shows, you know what?
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Unlike cats and dogs that aren't going to be resurrected, the dignity of your body.
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So don't sexually sin in your body. It's going to be raised. I can say it this way.
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The resurrection of Jesus and therefore your resurrection declares loudly. So don't then sin in your body.
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He who raised Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by the spirit that dwells in us. Romans eight, 11.
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Well, three more. We better hurry up. Indicative number seven. Gospel truth number seven for sanctification for Christians union with Christ.
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Your members of Christ joined to the Lord versus 15 through 17. Now what
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Paul could say in Ephesians would be something like this or what Paul did say in Christ, in beloved, you're in Christ, you're united with Christ.
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He says a little bit differently here, differently here, but it's the same legal union that he is talking about.
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Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Verse 15 shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?
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Never. Do you not know that he was joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her for as it is written, the two will become one flesh, but he was joined to the
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Lord. That's union becomes one spirit with him.
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Christians are united to the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the way, that's how you have the power to say no to sin, including sexual sin.
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If the spirit of God dwelling in you, you are united to Christ because of what the spirit has done.
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So don't unite yourself to a prostitute. If you're united with Jesus, don't be united with the prostitute.
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My body, soul, mind, strength, conscience is all united to Jesus. Then why do I want my body, soul, conscience united to someone that's not my spouse?
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When people engage in sexual sin outside of marriage, it's more than just those two people involved.
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The church is involved. And the Corinthians knew a little bit about harlotry.
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And essentially, I think Paul is saying, would Jesus ever hire a prostitute? And if that makes you shocked, then any kind of sexual sin with people who are not, all sexual sin, which is all sex outside of marriage, should also shock you.
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You are united with Jesus. And if you are united with Jesus, and then you're with someone else, or you're in front of some screen, you're involving
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Jesus with that act. That's the point. Paul's like, never, no way.
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May it never be. I don't want to do that. I don't want to talk about it. Indicative number eight found in verse 19.
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You're the temple of the Holy Spirit. You're the temple of the Holy Spirit. And do you not know? I mean, you should know, that your body is a temple of the
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Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God. Now, sometimes temple is plural.
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We are all the temple. Sometimes it's singular, and that's what it is here. Your body's like a shrine, a sanctuary, sacred.
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And you know, okay, if you think of the Old Testament, holy of holies, what goes on in there, how pure you have to be to get there, what are the regulations to be there and to stay there so you don't die?
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You're the temple, holy temple. You're not, not to do that.
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Do you see what Paul is doing? Of course, don't be deceived. Of course, flee from sexual immorality.
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Of course, glorify God with your body. But there are other truths that help us do those because the missing motivating factor in all evangelicalism is
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Jesus Christ for the Christian. And then number nine, you are redeemed.
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You've been bought with a price. Great glorious truth number nine, you're bought with a price.
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You're paid for by God himself. The ransom price was the
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Lord Jesus' life. Chapter seven of the same book, verse 23, you're bought with a price, do not become slaves with men.
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Mark 10, even the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.
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Romans 3, justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace.
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And if God redeemed you, he owns you. Free salvation to you, costly to God, cost
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God his son, the ransom price was Jesus himself and he did it out of love and since Christ has redeemed you from the slave pit of sin, don't go back to the slave block.
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I mean, that would be the craziest thing ever. You see somebody on a slave block and somebody auctions for them and they buy the slave and the slave owner says, by the way,
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I love you, you're free. And the person says, no, I'm not. Can I find another slave owner? I want to get back up on the block.
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David Pryor writes, for all their so -called knowledge, the Corinthians had lost sight of the centrality of Jesus Christ, the controlling power of the
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Holy Spirit and the transforming experience of having been called and saved by God. The law says live a holy life.
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That's true. But why? What's the sustainability? And it's not try harder by Paul.
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It's become who you are. Tim Chester, in his book,
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Porn -Free Church, writes, alongside your talk about sex, need to talk about grace and not just grace in the abstract, but the grace of God in the death of Christ.
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Christ dies in our place, bearing our guilt, so there's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. There's no condemnation for porn users, adulterers, sexual fantasists who are in Christ Jesus.
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This is not being soft on sin, quite the opposite. It takes sin so seriously, so seriously that the only remedy is the death of the eternal son of God.
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Look at the cross and see what God thinks of your sin. The death of his own son is the only act that can atone for what you've done.
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But in the act is grace and love and forgiveness and adoption and no condemnation.
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Churches are full of people desperately trying to self -atone for their lust, desperately trying to sort out themselves, desperately trying to prove they're good enough for God.
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And our message to all sexual sinners in Christ is this, it is finished.
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It is finished. The next time someone says, I'm really struggling with the sin, slander, gossip, pride, or pornography, what will you tell them?
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Let's pray. Father, I thank you today for your word. Very, very convicting and very, very encouraging to stand before you as holy and blameless, to stand before you in Christ.
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You could not love us more or love us less because you love us like you love the Lord Jesus. I would pray for our congregation that those here that are dabbling in this area are involved in this in any way, shape, or form, that today's the day they remember who you are and run.
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I also pray, Father, for those that are here today that don't know you and they realize they're sinners because they realize they've fallen short of your standard in this area, and that means in every other area.
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Would you grant them eyes to see? Would you give them faith? Would you remind them that there's nothing that they've done that the
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Lord Jesus Christ's death can't atone for? I'm thankful for that.
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I'm thankful that you love sinners. So help us now, even as we help other people in the church, to live a sanctified, holy life, and that is not only by what we must do, but also what's been done, law and gospel.