You Are Light in Christ

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St.

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Matthew, chapter 5, verses 13 through 20. Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

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I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from the law until all is accomplished.

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Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

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But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the

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Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. In the name of Jesus.

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Amen. Alright, I don't know if you noticed it, but this text has a ton of law in it.

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Law. Are Lutherans allowed to preach law? Of course. On Christ's commandments, on the commandments of God, our hearts should be meditating day and night.

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We should not be afraid of God's law. The problem is that there's a lot of, well, bad teaching out there when it comes to God's law and it kind of goes something like this.

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Let me give you a metaphor. Have any of you ever watched that show, The Biggest Loser? Those are my peeps.

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I'm just saying. But The Biggest Loser, you know, it always starts off, the season begins with a whole group of people who have, well, let themselves go.

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Rather than hitting the gym, they've hit the pizza joints. They've drank the beer. They ate the donuts.

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Oh, and they just downed all those Twinkies. And of course, we all know what happens when you do that.

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Well, you look like me. You end up blimping out, right? And so every season begins with this group of people who, well, they need salvation.

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They need salvation. And so what do they do? They get taken to the ranch. And when they're at the ranch, they get on the treadmill for the first time in maybe decades.

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And what do we watch them do the first week? They're all throwing up and, you know, just falling down and they can barely do this thing.

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And there's their trainer going, get up, get up, give me 20 more, faster, faster, harder, harder.

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And you feel bad for these people. It's like, good night. But over the course of the season, they go from really morbidly obese to kind of fat to slimming up to, whoa, they look skinny again.

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And of course, along the way, they do the little bio things and the biographies and then we hear their stories and how this is their chance at finally experiencing what?

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Salvation. And then you get to the end of the season and what happens? You get on the scale for the last time.

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And we always kind of picture Judgment Day like that. We get on the scale and we pray,

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I hope my good works outweigh my bad works, because if they do, the confetti cannon goes off and everyone says, yeah, way to go, right?

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I need to drink less coffee in the morning. But you get the idea.

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So after the confetti cannon goes off and the cameras turn off, what happens to the people who are on The Biggest Loser? They go and celebrate with a large pepperoni pizza.

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And see, this is how we think salvation works. There's the law, the

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Ten Commandments written in stone. It's a program. All you got to do is get with the program.

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And the purpose of Jesus, the reason why Jesus came was to show us it can be done.

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And so Jesus turns into our trainer. And then Jesus comes to us and says, drop, give me five

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Lord's prayers. I want to see you read 50 pieces of scripture. Okay, Jesus, right.

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And you get spiritually fit. And at the end of it, God says, well done. This is not the purpose of the law.

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The law is not given so that you can become physically fit, spiritually, right?

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Hans and Franz, yeah, yeah, right? No, that's not why the law is given.

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Its primary function is to take your spiritually fat carcass, your morbidly obese sinful nature, and kill it.

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That's the purpose. You see, when you do the law right, we take your sinful nature and we plunge the death blow through the heart, and then you are dead.

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And the law then deposits you at the feet of Jesus. In all of your wretched, sinful obesity.

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And what do you think Jesus does when he looks upon your sinful carcass after the law has done its killing work?

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Good job law, to hell with that one. To hell, damn that one, gone.

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No. Only then does Jesus raise you from the grave.

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And he makes you new. And the reason we keep God's law, we treasure it, and we obey it, is because we are new in Christ.

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If you lose sight of this, you turn the law into a self -improvement program in order to save yourself.

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The scripture is clear. If the law had been given by which we must be saved, then

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Christ died for no reason. It's in the book of Galatians. So with that, let's take a look at our gospel text as Jesus describes something very interesting here.

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Jesus begins in our gospel text today. This is still the same sermon he was preaching last week that we began with.

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You are the salt of the earth. You. Who's the you there? We'll play a game.

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Knock, knock. You. Ah, good question.

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I'm glad you asked. The you who here are those who are the poor in spirit, those who have been brought to mourn over their sin, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, those who have been given a pure heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, the reviled, the persecuted, those against whom all kinds of evil is being spoken falsely on account of Christ.

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Don't ever lose sight of that. Just because we're chopping Jesus' Sermon on the Mount up into pieces doesn't mean that the subject has changed.

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Jesus began with gospel proclamation. And so he is saying to those who are poor in spirit, you are the salt of the earth.

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You know why salt is salty? Because it's salt. Now this is going to sound really profound here too.

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Are you ready? Do you know what lights do? They shine. You know why lights shine?

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Because they're lights. So you'll notice here as we go through this law section and this exhortation section that if you kind of lose sight of what's really how the law works, you're going to miss the whole point.

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Jesus is not saying if you do these things, then you will be those who are blessed.

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He said you are blessed. You are salt. You are light.

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So Jesus is admonishing you to be what you is, to do what you are.

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Does that make sense? So, you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored?

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Remember, you've been baptized into the Red Sea of Christ's blood. The water is a baptism.

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That's where you were first made salty. So without the gospel, without the forgiveness of sins, without faith in Christ, you lose your saltiness.

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You just become like every other, well, sinner who's trying to save themselves by their good works. And when that happens, you're no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

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You are the light of the world. Notice it doesn't say if you try really hard, you get to be the light of the world.

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It says no, you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp, put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

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In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your

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Father who is in heaven. So Jesus is telling you to be what you are. You are the light of the world, so shine.

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Don't put your light under a bushel. Stop trying to hide that city on a hill. When you were baptized, you were made a child of the light.

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And what is our temptation as Christians? Man, if I speak like a

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Christian in this situation or remind people what God says in this situation or do what a

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Christian should do in this situation, that will happen. All hell will break loose.

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Yeah. That was on cue. There's $5 coming to you later. Thanks.

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Good job. Well executed. So the idea here is

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Jesus is saying, stop trying to hide your light. And so you understand this. As Christians, we are like the moon.

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We reflect the light of Christ. When we were brought to the waters of baptism, repentance and faith in Christ through the preaching of the gospel, law and gospel,

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God raised us from the grave, and we are already shining. In fact, this is exactly what

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Paul talks about in Ephesians 5. We'll take a look at a little cross -reference here. Ephesians 5, starting at verse 1, where Paul, after preaching the gospel to the church in Ephesus, telling them that they are saved by grace through faith apart from works, he then tells them, therefore, be imitators of God.

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And how do we learn to imitate God? Well, actually, the Ten Commandments, if you think about it, perfectly reflect the nature of God.

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Jesus fulfilled the law in our place. And so Jesus, how did he do it?

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He just was being himself. And so be imitators of God as beloved children because you are already that.

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Notice the Scripture never says, if you really want to be a beloved child of God, well, you better hit the spiritual gym and start exercising those

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Ten Commandments. No. You are a child of God. Therefore, be an imitator of God.

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Walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God.

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And because of this, sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among the saints.

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Let there be no filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking, which are out of place. Instead, let there be thanksgiving.

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For you can be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral, impure, or covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance of the kingdom of God.

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Now, that does not mean that there is no forgiveness for such sins. The idea is we don't turn the gospel into a license for such sins.

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Because we have been set free and we are children of the light, we do not practice such things.

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So let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

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And I would note here, there are Christian pastors, and I almost have to put the word Christian in air quotes nowadays, who literally from pulpits within churches are claiming that somehow

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God blesses same -sex marriage, that God winks at sexual immorality and care less about such things.

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These are empty words. This is false. This is nonsense. Christ has not set us free from sin to be slaves to sin.

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That doesn't make any sense. We've been working our way through the book of Exodus, and there is the children of Israel in the wilderness, and what do they long for?

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Slavery. I want to go back to Egypt. I want to go back. This freedom stuff is terrible.

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The one who walks in sin is walking in slavery. Might as well go back to Egypt.

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That doesn't make any sense because we are children of the light. So let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

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So therefore, do not become partners with them. For at one time, and here's the important words, you were darkness, but now you are light in the

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Lord. You are. Christ has made you light in the Lord. He has transferred you from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of light.

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Therefore, walk as a child of the light because you are that. For the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.

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And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. And if you are confused about that, pull out your catechism and re -look at the

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Ten Commandments. So take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness. Instead, expose them.

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It's shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible.

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For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, Awake, O sleeper. Arise from the dead.

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Christ will shine on you. So look carefully then how you walk. Not as unwise, but as wise.

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Making the best use of the time because the days are evil. Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the

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Lord is. Again, consult Ten Commandments if you're a little bit confused. Don't get drunk with wine.

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That's debauchery. Be filled with the Spirit. Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

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Singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart and giving thanks always for everything to God the

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Father. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

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You do these things. These are all good works. Scripture says so. This is what God wills for you to do.

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If you live this way, because you are a child of the light, living as a child of the light, your light, your good works, will shine before men.

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And they will give glory to God. Peter puts it this way in 1 Peter 2, verse 9.

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You, you are a chosen race. You are a royal priesthood. You are a holy nation.

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You are a people for God's own possession so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

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So notice, Peter and Paul, Jesus, they're all in agreement that we let our light shine because we have been made light in Christ.

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Be what you are. Once you were not a people, but now you are of God's people.

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Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received. So I urge you as sojourners in exiles, abstain from the passions of the flesh which are waging war against your soul.

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Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify

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God on the day of visitation. And that day is the day in which Jesus returns in glory to judge the living and the dead.

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So the idea, again, over and again, in Scripture, in the New Testament, it's clear.

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We are saved by grace through faith apart from works. This is God's work in us.

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We are transferred from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of light. We are regenerated, made new in Christ Jesus, and we are admonished by Christ in the

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Holy Spirit to now be what we are. And that requires us also to, well, mortify our sinful flesh, not try to resuscitate it.

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We are not saved by shining up old Adam. Instead, we are told to take old Adam and mortify him.

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He's going into the grave. Jesus continues then in the Sermon on the Mount, Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

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I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. And this is talking about Jesus fulfilling of the law for us in our place.

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Torah is completely fulfilled in Christ. And Jesus says, Truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot will pass from under the law until it is accomplished.

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And he accomplished it on the cross. Remember the words that he spoke while he's on the cross? It is finished.

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That's when it is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom.

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But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

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And so the idea then is that Jesus has not set us free to be slaves again. And Romans 6 bears this out so clearly.

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What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? What a stupid question.

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There are a few questions that are stupid. This is one of them. Of course not. By no means. How can we who die to sin still live in it?

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Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ, we were baptized into his death?

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We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death. In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the

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Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, and we have, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his, oh, and we will.

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We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing.

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There it is. Taking the old sinful flesh, that old Adam, we're not getting him stronger, we're killing him.

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That's the idea. And that death begins in the waters of baptism. We know that our old self was crucified with Christ so that the body of flesh might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

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One who has died has been set free from sin. Are you dead or not? Of course you are.

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Scripture says so. If you've been baptized, you're dead. If you haven't been baptized, come see me.

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We'll kill you. Not in a way that will draw attention by the authorities, but you get what

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I'm saying. We'll unite you with Christ in his death and his resurrection.

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So if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again.

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Death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all. The life he lives, he lives to God.

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So you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ because you are dead to sin and you are alive to God in Christ.

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This is why we do our good works. And now here comes the ultimate checkmate on the part of Jesus.

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This is the knife blow into the heart. Think of it like a steak. Think of your sinful flesh like a vampire.

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And so Jesus is going to come for the killing blow now for your sinful flesh. And here it is.

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I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

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And you can just see everyone there going, What? Those Pharisees, man, they're righteous dudes.

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They like go to synagogue all the time. They're praying like all the time. I heard they even like tithe down to like 10 % of like the herbs in their garden.

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How is my righteousness supposed to exceed theirs? Checkmate.

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That's the idea. So let me just ask you the question. Does your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees?

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Does it? Jesus says if it doesn't, you're not going to enter the kingdom of heaven. And we all know what happens to those who don't enter the kingdom of heaven on the last day.

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There's this lake, fire. That's where you end up. So is

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Jesus here saying, Get busy. I'll pump you up. Get busy. Do it. No, it's not what he's saying at all.

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How do I know? From the cross reference. Let me show you a Pharisee who ceased to be a

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Pharisee and whose righteousness exceeded that of the Pharisees or when he was a Pharisee.

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Take a look with me over at Philippians chapter 3, starting at verse 2. You all know the story of the

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Apostle Paul. He used to be Saul of Tarsus. He was a Pharisee. This was the fellow who, when

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Christianity got rolling, was persecuting Christians even to the point of death. And watch what he says here in relation to his own righteousness and how it is that somebody as wicked and evil as he can be saved.

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Here's what Paul says. Philippians 3, 2. Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers.

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Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. That's right. Paul just called the Judaizers dogs.

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So much for you can't call somebody names. He wasn't very politically correct now, was he? Yeah. So look out for those guys who are saying you're not saved unless you're circumcised.

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For we are the circumcision who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus. And we put no confidence in the flesh.

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Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh. Also, if anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, well,

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I have more. Now check out this list. I was circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a

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Hebrew of the Hebrews, as to the law, a Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

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Remember those MasterCard commercials? At the end of it, it always has the word priceless. So as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

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But watch what he says. But whatever gain I had, I counted as a loss for the sake of Christ.

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Indeed, I counted everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake,

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I have suffered the loss of all things, and I count them as... Hmm.

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The English translation in front of me says rubbish. Not quite strong enough.

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He's actually talking about all of his righteousness as a Pharisee under the law. And he calls it rubbish, but the

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Greek word is skubalon. Let me help you, all right? Have any of you ever had your yard mowed, and everything is just beautiful, and the birds are singing, and somebody walks their dog near your property, and the dog drops a bomb on your beautifully manicured grass?

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That dog bomb is skubalon. Got it? Now let's help with the word picture that he just painted for us, which is quite frightening.

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All of his righteousness as a Pharisee, he considers to be a dog bomb. Got it?

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In order that I might gain Christ, and here are the important words, and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness that is from God and depends on faith.

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So let me ask you again. Does your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees?

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Of course, because you've been given the righteousness of God, Christ's righteousness, as a gift.

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You are found in him, not having a righteousness of your own that comes from the law.

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So your righteousness does exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, because Christ is your righteousness.

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This is why Paul in our epistle text said to the church in Corinth, I decided to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified, because he is our righteousness.

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He is the one who makes us light, makes us salt. He is the one who has brought us to be poor in spirit.

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He is the one who has caused us to mourn over our sin and to receive peace and mercy from God.

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So let us rejoice in the great gift that we have in Christ's righteousness, that we have been transferred from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of his light, and let us walk as children of the light, because we already are.

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In the name of Jesus. Amen. Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

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Avenue NW, Oslo, MN 56744 We thank you for your support.

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