1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,130 Speaker: Romans two is where we're going. 2 00:00:02,130 --> 00:00:04,259 We're finishing Romans two tonight. 3 00:00:04,259 --> 00:00:09,990 We're gonna look at the last, I think, 12 or 13 verses. 4 00:00:10,769 --> 00:00:15,240 But while you're turning there, I, um, I need to tell you about something. 5 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:19,949 It's the holiday season is coming up and so people like getting, you know, these 6 00:00:19,949 --> 00:00:23,939 like fancy chocolate boxes, you know, those like, they're like the gourmet 7 00:00:23,939 --> 00:00:26,250 chocolates and stuff and all that stuff. 8 00:00:26,669 --> 00:00:28,949 And they've got, they look really cool. 9 00:00:28,949 --> 00:00:30,809 They look, they look super delicious. 10 00:00:30,809 --> 00:00:33,390 They, you, and they tell you what they are on the bottom of the box. 11 00:00:33,870 --> 00:00:36,750 So I hate these to be honest. 12 00:00:36,750 --> 00:00:38,400 If, if you wanted to get me this for Christmas. 13 00:00:38,969 --> 00:00:40,980 Sorry, like, just get me a Hershey bar or something. 14 00:00:41,010 --> 00:00:42,960 Like, I, I hate these. 15 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,249 And the reason, the reason I hate these is because it's not 16 00:00:47,249 --> 00:00:49,079 really like chocolate, right? 17 00:00:49,079 --> 00:00:50,370 Inside of all of this stuff. 18 00:00:50,370 --> 00:00:52,889 There's gonna be all these weird, there's gonna be like strawberry, there's 19 00:00:52,889 --> 00:00:56,309 gonna be nuts, there's gonna be all this weird, it's not chocolate, right? 20 00:00:56,309 --> 00:00:57,089 It looks great. 21 00:00:57,089 --> 00:01:00,689 It looks like this delicious, awesome chocolate stuff on the outside. 22 00:01:00,689 --> 00:01:03,540 But on the inside it's usually like, or some of it's like white 23 00:01:03,540 --> 00:01:04,500 chocolate and I don't know. 24 00:01:04,504 --> 00:01:04,703 Anyway. 25 00:01:05,489 --> 00:01:06,900 It's, I, I hate these things. 26 00:01:06,900 --> 00:01:09,090 They're, they're, they're so, like, they're such a big letdown. 27 00:01:09,359 --> 00:01:13,049 I had a guy in my community group at my last church in Kansas City who worked 28 00:01:13,049 --> 00:01:16,500 for one of these companies and he'd like, bring stuff to community group. 29 00:01:16,500 --> 00:01:18,299 And I felt so bad 'cause it looks so good. 30 00:01:18,449 --> 00:01:21,479 And I'm like, actually, I know I've, I've learned, I know better. 31 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:23,520 This is not like chocolate. 32 00:01:23,639 --> 00:01:26,370 This is a bunch of other stuff that they shove into a chocolate 33 00:01:26,549 --> 00:01:27,479 and make it look really good. 34 00:01:27,509 --> 00:01:30,299 Anyway, I, I really don't like these things because on the 35 00:01:30,299 --> 00:01:33,479 outside they look great, but on the inside they let you down. 36 00:01:33,479 --> 00:01:33,630 Right? 37 00:01:33,630 --> 00:01:34,650 They're not the real. 38 00:01:35,370 --> 00:01:35,759 Thing. 39 00:01:35,759 --> 00:01:39,870 And see in our passage tonight, the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans 40 00:01:39,870 --> 00:01:44,789 is gonna turn his attention to some people who on the outside look really good. 41 00:01:44,970 --> 00:01:47,100 They look like they're part of God's people. 42 00:01:47,100 --> 00:01:49,650 They look like someone that, that you think that person 43 00:01:49,650 --> 00:01:50,280 knows what they're doing. 44 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:51,389 That person knows Jesus. 45 00:01:51,389 --> 00:01:53,009 That person loves God. 46 00:01:53,009 --> 00:01:55,229 But really on the inside, they're terrible. 47 00:01:55,470 --> 00:01:56,880 They, they don't love God. 48 00:01:57,030 --> 00:01:57,870 They're selfish. 49 00:01:58,109 --> 00:02:01,560 And I'm, I want you to be thinking maybe that's me. 50 00:02:02,654 --> 00:02:07,334 It's easy to grow up in the church, to, to know all these things, to be associated 51 00:02:07,334 --> 00:02:11,415 with all the right things, to, to maybe do all the right things on the outside, 52 00:02:11,415 --> 00:02:17,684 but on the inside you might not, you might not have a genuine relationship with God. 53 00:02:17,984 --> 00:02:20,234 You can do all the outward things, right? 54 00:02:20,234 --> 00:02:23,534 You can, you can do all the, the church things right and 55 00:02:23,534 --> 00:02:24,975 not have a real relationship. 56 00:02:25,590 --> 00:02:26,640 With Jesus. 57 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:30,810 See, real Christianity is about what's on the inside, not the way 58 00:02:30,929 --> 00:02:32,459 it's presented on the outside. 59 00:02:32,459 --> 00:02:37,709 So our main point tonight is that real Christianity comes from a new heart. 60 00:02:38,609 --> 00:02:39,600 Real Christianity. 61 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:41,880 What, what it really means to follow Jesus. 62 00:02:41,910 --> 00:02:44,280 What it really means to be part of God's people. 63 00:02:45,149 --> 00:02:47,910 It comes from a new heart. 64 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:50,430 It comes from what's on the inside. 65 00:02:51,060 --> 00:02:53,424 Something has to happen to who you are on the inside. 66 00:02:54,285 --> 00:02:58,425 Right who you are as a person, what you love, what, what's most important to you. 67 00:02:59,055 --> 00:03:02,205 That's where real Christianity comes from. 68 00:03:02,805 --> 00:03:02,865 So. 69 00:03:03,929 --> 00:03:05,609 We're gonna look at that in, in Romans two. 70 00:03:05,609 --> 00:03:09,060 Before we, we get there, I just wanna remind you where we're at in Romans. 71 00:03:09,060 --> 00:03:09,359 Okay? 72 00:03:09,540 --> 00:03:12,450 Something that's might be really helpful for you when you read the Bible is that, 73 00:03:12,510 --> 00:03:13,769 especially when you read a letter, right? 74 00:03:13,769 --> 00:03:16,560 Like a letter to the Romans, or letter to the Colossians, something 75 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,950 like that, the author is making an, like an argument, right? 76 00:03:19,950 --> 00:03:22,079 He's not like arguing in the sense of like, he's mad at you 77 00:03:22,079 --> 00:03:22,950 and trying to prove you wrong. 78 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:27,269 He's, he's connecting his thoughts in like a, a structure and a flow. 79 00:03:27,704 --> 00:03:31,665 What he's, what he's saying is building the Bible's, not just a bunch of random 80 00:03:31,665 --> 00:03:33,255 stuff for you to be like, oh, that's cool. 81 00:03:33,465 --> 00:03:34,095 I like that. 82 00:03:34,275 --> 00:03:34,995 That's encouraging. 83 00:03:35,145 --> 00:03:38,265 It's not like a pantry of, of things that you pull off the shelf and you 84 00:03:38,265 --> 00:03:42,945 like, the Bible is a connected, like string of arguments and so, so far 85 00:03:43,035 --> 00:03:44,295 this is what we we're kind of at. 86 00:03:44,775 --> 00:03:45,704 We talked about our thesis state. 87 00:03:45,704 --> 00:03:47,865 Remember we talked about how when you're writing a paper and your 88 00:03:47,865 --> 00:03:50,415 teacher says, or you write essays, not papers, college people write 89 00:03:50,415 --> 00:03:52,964 papers, you write essays and you're writing an essay and you're, you're. 90 00:03:53,130 --> 00:03:56,040 Teacher says something like, oh, you need your thesis statement, right? 91 00:03:56,219 --> 00:03:57,659 This is kind of, that was our thesis statement. 92 00:03:57,659 --> 00:03:59,610 The gospel shows God's righteousness. 93 00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,010 Remember that we talked about that when we first started? 94 00:04:02,010 --> 00:04:05,130 Romans, the gospel shows that God is doing the right thing. 95 00:04:05,339 --> 00:04:06,390 It shows who God is. 96 00:04:07,155 --> 00:04:10,485 The first section of Romans that we're in right now shows us 97 00:04:10,485 --> 00:04:12,225 that God's wrath is righteous. 98 00:04:12,435 --> 00:04:16,454 God's punishment of sin and sinners is the right thing to do. 99 00:04:16,665 --> 00:04:17,355 It's a good thing. 100 00:04:17,654 --> 00:04:21,495 That's what this whole first section of Romans is about, and that's probably 101 00:04:21,495 --> 00:04:23,955 why all of these sermons feel like I'm beating you up all the time, 102 00:04:24,285 --> 00:04:26,055 because that's what we're in right now. 103 00:04:26,055 --> 00:04:28,935 We're talking about how God's wrath is, is the right thing. 104 00:04:29,260 --> 00:04:32,859 Paul wants you to start here so you know something about yourself 105 00:04:33,039 --> 00:04:35,049 before he moves on to other things. 106 00:04:35,169 --> 00:04:36,820 So we talked about in chapter one, right? 107 00:04:36,820 --> 00:04:38,799 God's wrath is righteous 'cause everyone rejects him. 108 00:04:38,830 --> 00:04:41,200 We started talking about how people have no excuse 'cause. 109 00:04:41,260 --> 00:04:43,780 'cause God, his existence, the fact that he's God. 110 00:04:43,780 --> 00:04:46,690 It's clear it's been made evidence to everyone in creation. 111 00:04:46,870 --> 00:04:47,560 We talked about that. 112 00:04:47,950 --> 00:04:50,739 We talked about how God's wrath is righteous regardless 113 00:04:50,739 --> 00:04:52,060 of religious background. 114 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,549 That's what we're covering these past couple weeks, and that's what we're gonna 115 00:04:54,549 --> 00:04:57,640 be talking about tonight, is no matter where you're from, how you grew up. 116 00:04:58,575 --> 00:05:01,185 Everyone deserves God's wrath. 117 00:05:01,635 --> 00:05:05,325 And then to bring it back in two weeks, we'll be talking about 118 00:05:05,325 --> 00:05:06,345 how God's wrath is righteous. 119 00:05:06,345 --> 00:05:07,245 'cause none of us are good enough. 120 00:05:07,455 --> 00:05:11,745 None of us are, are deserving of anything good from God. 121 00:05:11,835 --> 00:05:15,915 And then where we're going, just to give you a picture of that is 122 00:05:15,975 --> 00:05:19,215 then once you realize this, once you realize, oh, you know what? 123 00:05:19,275 --> 00:05:24,165 God shouldn't let me into heaven, then your question should be, well, 124 00:05:24,165 --> 00:05:25,875 why would God let anyone into heaven? 125 00:05:27,225 --> 00:05:28,515 Why would God save anyone? 126 00:05:28,695 --> 00:05:34,065 God if, if God should show his wrath to people, why would he forgive anyone? 127 00:05:34,995 --> 00:05:35,925 And how can you do that? 128 00:05:35,925 --> 00:05:37,335 And just be like, oh yeah, you sinned. 129 00:05:37,365 --> 00:05:37,965 Well, that's fine. 130 00:05:38,085 --> 00:05:41,655 I'll forgive you that actually, God's forgiveness shouldn't make 131 00:05:41,655 --> 00:05:42,975 sense to you, not God's wrath. 132 00:05:43,844 --> 00:05:44,895 So that's where Paul's going. 133 00:05:44,985 --> 00:05:47,325 Okay, so tonight we are right here. 134 00:05:47,865 --> 00:05:50,805 We are talking about how God's wrath is the right thing to do. 135 00:05:50,895 --> 00:05:54,855 His, his anger towards sin, his punishment towards sin is the right thing to do, 136 00:05:55,215 --> 00:05:58,815 even if you are a religious person. 137 00:05:59,025 --> 00:06:00,765 Okay, that's where we're at. 138 00:06:00,765 --> 00:06:03,195 So chapter two, verse 17. 139 00:06:03,195 --> 00:06:04,305 Why don't you read along with me? 140 00:06:04,335 --> 00:06:04,605 Okay. 141 00:06:04,815 --> 00:06:06,585 Chapter two, verse 17. 142 00:06:06,585 --> 00:06:09,465 So Paul, he's, he's talking to this imaginary. 143 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,640 This imaginary person and he, he's assuming that they are Jewish. 144 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,159 They're one of God's chosen people from the Old Testament, right? 145 00:06:17,159 --> 00:06:20,580 God made these promises to Israel, and so he's saying, okay, let's say 146 00:06:20,580 --> 00:06:21,599 you say you're one of those people. 147 00:06:21,599 --> 00:06:22,799 I'm a descendant of Abraham. 148 00:06:23,039 --> 00:06:27,299 I'm a Jew, verse 17, but if you call yourself a Jew and 149 00:06:27,299 --> 00:06:28,830 you rely on the law, right? 150 00:06:28,830 --> 00:06:29,880 The Jews had God's law. 151 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:30,239 They had. 152 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:35,490 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers, Deuteronomy, and you boast in God. 153 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:36,990 You say, oh, I know God, right? 154 00:06:36,990 --> 00:06:39,210 He's, he's my God, he's the God of Abraham. 155 00:06:39,210 --> 00:06:40,140 He's the God of my people. 156 00:06:40,530 --> 00:06:44,190 Verse 18, and you know his Will you approve what is excellent, right? 157 00:06:44,190 --> 00:06:45,540 You know what God wants you to do. 158 00:06:45,750 --> 00:06:49,920 You know the kind of things that that God loves because you are 159 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:51,780 instructed from the law verse 19. 160 00:06:51,930 --> 00:06:55,050 And if you are sure that you yourself are a. 161 00:06:55,455 --> 00:06:59,385 Guide to the Blind, a light to those in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, 162 00:06:59,385 --> 00:07:03,224 a teacher of children having in the law, the embodiment of knowledge and truth. 163 00:07:03,224 --> 00:07:06,914 So Paul, what he's doing here in these first few verses is he's telling the Jews 164 00:07:06,914 --> 00:07:08,655 all the things that they love to hear. 165 00:07:08,984 --> 00:07:13,484 He's telling the Jews, Hey, you guys are, are so awesome. 166 00:07:13,815 --> 00:07:14,054 Right? 167 00:07:14,054 --> 00:07:17,054 You have all of these religious advantages, right? 168 00:07:17,205 --> 00:07:19,575 You, you have God's promises. 169 00:07:19,575 --> 00:07:20,715 You have God's law. 170 00:07:20,864 --> 00:07:24,614 You have a A, you're a people who God said, I'm their God. 171 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:25,560 Right. 172 00:07:25,980 --> 00:07:27,570 You know what God wants you to do? 173 00:07:27,630 --> 00:07:29,130 You know your Bibles really well. 174 00:07:29,190 --> 00:07:31,020 You know what God says? 175 00:07:31,020 --> 00:07:32,460 You know what sin and what's not. 176 00:07:32,460 --> 00:07:35,880 You know how to have a relationship with God through the temple. 177 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:37,380 You know what? 178 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,250 That, that what other people doing maybe is wrong. 179 00:07:41,430 --> 00:07:44,490 You can teach people how to live wisely from God's word. 180 00:07:45,300 --> 00:07:50,430 He says all these great things about about the Jews, and then look what 181 00:07:50,430 --> 00:07:52,800 he says in the next few verses. 182 00:07:53,385 --> 00:07:58,094 Then you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? 183 00:07:58,995 --> 00:08:01,965 So you guys have all of this religious knowledge, all of this, 184 00:08:02,205 --> 00:08:03,705 all these religious advantages. 185 00:08:03,945 --> 00:08:07,455 Do you not teach yourself while you preach against stealing? 186 00:08:07,455 --> 00:08:09,104 Do you not steal. 187 00:08:10,455 --> 00:08:13,364 You who say that one must not commit adultery. 188 00:08:13,484 --> 00:08:14,835 Do you commit adultery? 189 00:08:15,045 --> 00:08:15,585 You who? 190 00:08:15,675 --> 00:08:16,124 Ab whore. 191 00:08:16,124 --> 00:08:17,144 That means hate idols. 192 00:08:17,354 --> 00:08:19,274 Do you rob temples? 193 00:08:19,785 --> 00:08:20,415 Verse 23. 194 00:08:20,415 --> 00:08:24,734 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 195 00:08:25,035 --> 00:08:28,394 The very thing that you think is, is making you special to God. 196 00:08:28,604 --> 00:08:32,985 The very thing that you think, oh, this must make me one of God's chosen people. 197 00:08:33,135 --> 00:08:35,294 This must make me right with God. 198 00:08:35,414 --> 00:08:36,794 This must mean I'm good. 199 00:08:37,455 --> 00:08:39,075 This must mean I'm going to heaven. 200 00:08:39,105 --> 00:08:39,885 That's what the Jews are thinking. 201 00:08:40,155 --> 00:08:42,135 I'm God's chosen people. 202 00:08:42,135 --> 00:08:43,725 I'm part of the the right group. 203 00:08:44,235 --> 00:08:45,525 I'm in the right crowd. 204 00:08:45,765 --> 00:08:47,295 I have the right things. 205 00:08:47,295 --> 00:08:50,415 I have a right relationship with God because of all the things I have. 206 00:08:50,955 --> 00:08:54,165 He's saying, but you still are breaking the law. 207 00:08:54,375 --> 00:08:55,065 You great. 208 00:08:55,065 --> 00:08:55,875 You have the law. 209 00:08:55,935 --> 00:08:58,005 You know what God wants you to do, but guess what? 210 00:08:58,455 --> 00:09:00,615 You're still breaking the law. 211 00:09:01,215 --> 00:09:01,605 And then. 212 00:09:02,130 --> 00:09:04,410 He ups it here in verse 24. 213 00:09:04,530 --> 00:09:08,160 For as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among 214 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:09,180 the Gentiles because of you. 215 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,200 That word blasphemy, that's like when you take God and you put him down, 216 00:09:13,830 --> 00:09:15,360 you treat him like he's not God. 217 00:09:16,020 --> 00:09:19,110 And remember we talked about in chapter one, that's what makes sin sin. 218 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:21,060 What makes sin sinful. 219 00:09:21,180 --> 00:09:24,300 What makes it evil is what it says about God, right? 220 00:09:24,300 --> 00:09:26,580 What sin says about God is that God isn't that important. 221 00:09:27,510 --> 00:09:28,560 God, isn't that awesome? 222 00:09:28,770 --> 00:09:33,660 That God isn't worth following, that God isn't good for you, that God isn't wise? 223 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:35,850 That's what sin says because you say, I don't want that. 224 00:09:35,850 --> 00:09:36,540 I wanna do my thing. 225 00:09:37,530 --> 00:09:40,590 That's what makes something evil, is you're saying, uh, 226 00:09:40,620 --> 00:09:41,940 well, God's not that important. 227 00:09:43,530 --> 00:09:44,580 That's what blasphemy is. 228 00:09:44,670 --> 00:09:48,815 And so the Jews are actually causing the Gentiles to think God's not 229 00:09:48,815 --> 00:09:50,070 a big deal because of their sin. 230 00:09:50,340 --> 00:09:51,750 They're, they're saying, oh, look at us. 231 00:09:51,750 --> 00:09:52,440 We're so great. 232 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:53,160 We're God's people. 233 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:55,020 We have all these, these great things. 234 00:09:55,260 --> 00:09:56,340 And then they live. 235 00:09:56,955 --> 00:10:01,245 Hypocritically, and actually, isn't that what a lot of people say about the church? 236 00:10:02,145 --> 00:10:03,735 Isn't that what a lot of people say about Christians? 237 00:10:03,735 --> 00:10:06,885 Well, oh, all the Christians are hypocrites, so I don't wanna really go to 238 00:10:06,885 --> 00:10:11,235 church, or I don't really, I, I, I just, me and God, we kind of do our thing, but, 239 00:10:11,655 --> 00:10:15,765 you know, I don't, I don't wanna really be part of church because all the Christians 240 00:10:15,795 --> 00:10:16,965 there, they just, they're hypocrites. 241 00:10:16,965 --> 00:10:18,080 They don't, they don't actually do the things they say. 242 00:10:19,410 --> 00:10:22,350 That's, that's a really common thing you might hear. 243 00:10:22,590 --> 00:10:26,250 But what Paul is saying is all of these religious advantages you have, all the 244 00:10:26,250 --> 00:10:30,900 things you know about God, all the, the ways that you think make you right 245 00:10:30,900 --> 00:10:36,450 with God, those things actually show that, that you're breaking the law too. 246 00:10:38,100 --> 00:10:42,090 None of that helps you, none of the outward signs of your religion help you 247 00:10:42,630 --> 00:10:45,420 if you are still breaking God's law. 248 00:10:45,900 --> 00:10:46,860 So our first point tonight. 249 00:10:47,730 --> 00:10:54,930 Is to, don't rely on outward signs of religion, don't rely 250 00:10:55,530 --> 00:10:57,390 on outward signs of religion. 251 00:10:57,420 --> 00:10:57,570 Right? 252 00:10:57,570 --> 00:10:58,380 That's what the Jews were doing. 253 00:10:58,410 --> 00:10:59,940 They were saying, look at all the stuff we have. 254 00:11:00,810 --> 00:11:03,300 We have the temple, we have the law. 255 00:11:03,300 --> 00:11:04,170 We know our Bibles. 256 00:11:04,170 --> 00:11:06,240 We've memorized books of the Bible. 257 00:11:07,410 --> 00:11:08,850 We go to the right places. 258 00:11:08,850 --> 00:11:10,740 We, we don't worship those idols. 259 00:11:11,100 --> 00:11:13,530 We don't eat those foods, right? 260 00:11:13,530 --> 00:11:15,300 We're not like those people over there. 261 00:11:16,635 --> 00:11:22,935 So there are outward signs of, of Jewishness, of, of religion were what they 262 00:11:22,935 --> 00:11:25,545 relied on to make them right with God. 263 00:11:25,545 --> 00:11:29,835 They said, we are gonna go to heaven because look at all 264 00:11:29,835 --> 00:11:32,745 the stuff that we do, right. 265 00:11:32,745 --> 00:11:36,495 We're we're right with God because of all the stuff that we do and all, 266 00:11:36,495 --> 00:11:38,300 all these different outward things. 267 00:11:40,710 --> 00:11:43,860 So the outward signs really convince them, right? 268 00:11:43,860 --> 00:11:47,550 That, oh, I must be right with God because I have this and I have this right. 269 00:11:47,610 --> 00:11:52,290 Maybe for you it's, I go to church, I have Christian parents I serve at church. 270 00:11:52,530 --> 00:11:53,820 I know a lot about the Bible. 271 00:11:54,030 --> 00:11:54,990 I know the gospel. 272 00:11:55,290 --> 00:11:56,370 I memorize Bible verses. 273 00:11:56,370 --> 00:11:59,970 Maybe for you, because of all those outward signs of religion, 274 00:12:00,390 --> 00:12:02,820 you've convinced yourself, oh, I must be a Christian. 275 00:12:03,660 --> 00:12:04,650 And this happens a lot, right? 276 00:12:04,650 --> 00:12:07,920 If you talk to maybe a lot of the kids in our kids' ministry. 277 00:12:08,310 --> 00:12:12,210 They just assume, oh, I'm a Christian because my parents are Christians. 278 00:12:12,690 --> 00:12:14,190 I'm a Christian because I go to church. 279 00:12:14,940 --> 00:12:15,090 Right? 280 00:12:15,090 --> 00:12:16,710 If you talk to your friends at school, they might say the same thing. 281 00:12:16,710 --> 00:12:17,490 How do you know you're a Christian? 282 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:18,060 Well, I go to church. 283 00:12:18,060 --> 00:12:18,660 I've always been a Christian. 284 00:12:19,530 --> 00:12:23,520 The outward signs of their, of their parents' faith really have 285 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,490 just, they've assumed that, oh, that must mean I'm part of this too. 286 00:12:27,835 --> 00:12:30,390 And what we're gonna learn is that that's not true. 287 00:12:30,660 --> 00:12:35,460 The outward signs of Christianity don't make you necessarily a Christian. 288 00:12:36,375 --> 00:12:39,675 What makes someone a Christian we talked about was a new heart, not 289 00:12:39,705 --> 00:12:42,045 outward signs of Christianity. 290 00:12:43,485 --> 00:12:47,115 It's kind of like, so I, I watched this YouTube channel about animals. 291 00:12:47,175 --> 00:12:47,925 That sounds really weird. 292 00:12:48,105 --> 00:12:52,605 He pretends like life is like a video game and he rates animals 293 00:12:52,605 --> 00:12:53,955 as like playable characters. 294 00:12:54,705 --> 00:12:57,825 He'll go, he'll like do like S tier all the way down to like F tier. 295 00:12:58,005 --> 00:13:01,515 Anyway, so I was watching this video about snakes and he showed me this. 296 00:13:01,635 --> 00:13:03,645 He showed this thing and I thought it was, it was really cool. 297 00:13:03,765 --> 00:13:05,715 There's these, there's two kinds of snakes. 298 00:13:06,105 --> 00:13:09,705 One of them is venomous, the other one is not. 299 00:13:10,335 --> 00:13:14,325 But this non venomous snake tries to look like the venomous snake 300 00:13:14,535 --> 00:13:15,915 to scare all the predators away. 301 00:13:15,915 --> 00:13:17,055 See, this is what they are. 302 00:13:17,055 --> 00:13:17,145 Oh yeah. 303 00:13:18,525 --> 00:13:19,395 You ever heard of this before? 304 00:13:19,395 --> 00:13:19,485 Yes. 305 00:13:20,025 --> 00:13:22,545 So one of these is a coral snake. 306 00:13:22,590 --> 00:13:24,450 That is venomous. 307 00:13:25,170 --> 00:13:26,820 One of them is a king snake. 308 00:13:27,330 --> 00:13:28,410 They look really similar. 309 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,670 It's trying really hard to look like a coral snake, but it's not. 310 00:13:33,660 --> 00:13:34,560 It's not venomous. 311 00:13:34,980 --> 00:13:36,120 It's just a constrictor. 312 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:39,270 It doesn't have any poison that it can inject into you. 313 00:13:39,660 --> 00:13:41,730 So one of them is poisonous, one of 'em is not. 314 00:13:41,730 --> 00:13:44,880 But the whole point is, even though they're different snakes on 315 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:46,440 the outside, they look the same. 316 00:13:46,950 --> 00:13:47,130 Right? 317 00:13:47,130 --> 00:13:51,510 They're trying to look the same, but one of them is the real thing and one of them. 318 00:13:51,990 --> 00:13:52,590 Is not. 319 00:13:53,940 --> 00:13:58,230 Now, I showed this to, um, our admin, Mrs. 320 00:13:58,230 --> 00:14:02,250 Smith, to Kelly, and she lived in Florida and this is actually 321 00:14:02,250 --> 00:14:02,970 something they have to deal with. 322 00:14:03,660 --> 00:14:07,080 And so she knew, oh, that one's, that one's the real one and that 323 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:08,490 one's the not poisonous one. 324 00:14:08,790 --> 00:14:12,990 And so she knew that this is the coral snake, this poisonous venomous rather. 325 00:14:13,230 --> 00:14:15,270 And this one is Kings snake. 326 00:14:15,300 --> 00:14:17,010 That one is not See. 327 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:20,610 But if you're just walking, right, if you're, if you're, you know, living 328 00:14:20,610 --> 00:14:24,960 in Florida trying to run away from the alligators and you see one of these 329 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,750 on the ground, I love when I looked up, how do you distinguish them? 330 00:14:28,050 --> 00:14:31,290 The first thing was look closer, and I was like, what? 331 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,100 I'm not gonna be like, I wonder if this snake is venomous. 332 00:14:35,190 --> 00:14:36,210 Let me see. 333 00:14:36,270 --> 00:14:38,220 Like, no, that's not what I wanna do. 334 00:14:38,490 --> 00:14:40,320 Not helpful Google. 335 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:41,640 Anyway, so 336 00:14:43,770 --> 00:14:46,290 the whole point of this, right, is that this king snake. 337 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:51,000 Is trying to look like this snake on the outside, but really 338 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:51,960 it's a totally different snake. 339 00:14:52,890 --> 00:14:55,890 And I think a lot of people who grew up in church do the same thing. 340 00:14:56,460 --> 00:14:58,440 They have the same outward appearance, right? 341 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:02,730 You might serve in the same places, you might say the same things, you might 342 00:15:02,820 --> 00:15:05,310 know the same verses you might have. 343 00:15:05,370 --> 00:15:07,635 Your parents have similar beliefs, right? 344 00:15:07,710 --> 00:15:09,180 You, you might have similar beliefs. 345 00:15:09,180 --> 00:15:10,560 You, you believe that God created the world. 346 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:15,300 You believe that the Bible's true, but on the inside, you're totally different. 347 00:15:16,875 --> 00:15:19,755 One of you loves God and one of you thinks God is kind of lame, 348 00:15:22,815 --> 00:15:28,005 so don't let the outward signs of your Christian religion trick you into 349 00:15:28,005 --> 00:15:30,195 thinking that you're actually a Christian. 350 00:15:31,155 --> 00:15:33,615 Just because you might look like a Christian on the outside 351 00:15:34,005 --> 00:15:35,955 doesn't mean you really are. 352 00:15:37,065 --> 00:15:38,265 That's Paul's point here. 353 00:15:38,415 --> 00:15:41,685 Here's some outward signs of religion that you might rely on. 354 00:15:42,075 --> 00:15:44,205 These are things that are good. 355 00:15:44,835 --> 00:15:46,035 But they might not. 356 00:15:46,575 --> 00:15:48,705 They don't necessarily mean that you're a Christian, right? 357 00:15:48,705 --> 00:15:52,155 Just because that snake has the same colors as the other snake 358 00:15:52,155 --> 00:15:53,145 doesn't mean it's the same snake. 359 00:15:53,535 --> 00:15:54,165 Same thing here. 360 00:15:54,885 --> 00:15:56,145 Maybe it's your Christian parents. 361 00:15:56,265 --> 00:15:58,485 Maybe you think, oh, well my parents are Christian, so I must be a Christian. 362 00:15:58,665 --> 00:15:59,985 It's a great thing to have Christian parents. 363 00:16:00,405 --> 00:16:03,135 It's awesome, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you're a 364 00:16:03,135 --> 00:16:06,525 Christian, or maybe you grew up going to church, or maybe you're involved 365 00:16:06,525 --> 00:16:08,265 in church, or you serve at church. 366 00:16:08,955 --> 00:16:12,495 Maybe you read the Bible every day. 367 00:16:13,980 --> 00:16:18,450 Maybe you are just known as the Christian kid, maybe at school or in your family. 368 00:16:18,450 --> 00:16:19,680 You're the good kid, right? 369 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:22,590 You're, you're that you're the good kid, you're the Christian kid. 370 00:16:22,590 --> 00:16:23,880 People know you as that person. 371 00:16:24,750 --> 00:16:27,840 Again, that just 'cause they know you, that on the outside doesn't mean 372 00:16:28,500 --> 00:16:30,780 that you are necessarily a Christian. 373 00:16:31,590 --> 00:16:36,210 Maybe someone told you you were a Christian, right? 374 00:16:36,210 --> 00:16:38,700 Maybe your parents told you you were a Christian, or your leaders 375 00:16:38,700 --> 00:16:39,314 told you you were a Christian. 376 00:16:41,070 --> 00:16:43,410 Does it matter whether I think you're a Christian or not? 377 00:16:44,070 --> 00:16:45,570 Ultimately, no. 378 00:16:45,570 --> 00:16:47,490 Does it matter if I tell you you're a Christian or not? 379 00:16:47,550 --> 00:16:48,480 Does that make you a Christian? 380 00:16:48,675 --> 00:16:48,895 No. 381 00:16:49,170 --> 00:16:49,620 No. 382 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:50,670 Right? 383 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:55,830 What matters is what God says, what his word says about you, right? 384 00:16:55,890 --> 00:16:58,170 So maybe you're relying on that. 385 00:16:58,170 --> 00:17:01,290 You're saying, well, I know I'm a Christian because my parents told me this. 386 00:17:01,439 --> 00:17:04,108 Or I know I'm a Christian because everyone at school thinks I'm 387 00:17:04,108 --> 00:17:07,020 a Christian, or I know I'm a Christian because, uh, my parents. 388 00:17:08,054 --> 00:17:12,314 Are Christians or I know the Bible, or maybe you think, oh, I know I'm a 389 00:17:12,314 --> 00:17:14,023 Christian 'cause I feel bad about my sin. 390 00:17:14,054 --> 00:17:15,134 We talked about this last week, right? 391 00:17:15,314 --> 00:17:18,253 Feeling bad about your sin does not necessarily mean you're a Christian. 392 00:17:18,253 --> 00:17:21,134 It's good that you feel bad about your sin, but there's a lot of people who 393 00:17:21,134 --> 00:17:24,104 feel bad about their sin and never do anything about it and end up in hell. 394 00:17:27,134 --> 00:17:31,124 There's a lot of things that are maybe good, but don't necessarily 395 00:17:31,124 --> 00:17:34,874 mean that you're saved, that you have a real relationship with God. 396 00:17:36,044 --> 00:17:39,344 You don't wanna rely on those outward things to say that you're a Christian. 397 00:17:39,344 --> 00:17:43,004 'cause those things might just, might just be there, right? 398 00:17:43,004 --> 00:17:46,334 They might just be the, the signs of, of religion and, and 399 00:17:46,574 --> 00:17:48,975 churchianity, as one pastor called it. 400 00:17:49,304 --> 00:17:52,695 But maybe you have no real relationship with Jesus, right? 401 00:17:52,725 --> 00:17:55,574 What, what you should really rely on to know if you're a Christian 402 00:17:55,574 --> 00:17:57,824 or not is do I trust Jesus? 403 00:17:58,860 --> 00:18:01,949 The whole point of, of, of trust is that that's, that's what 404 00:18:01,955 --> 00:18:03,870 what you're relying on, right? 405 00:18:03,870 --> 00:18:05,610 If, if someone asks you, why are you a Christian? 406 00:18:06,030 --> 00:18:12,540 And you say, well, because I did fill in the blank, that's not a good start, right? 407 00:18:12,990 --> 00:18:16,350 Because what are you trusting in something you did? 408 00:18:17,310 --> 00:18:17,490 Right? 409 00:18:17,490 --> 00:18:19,919 And that's not what Christians do, right? 410 00:18:20,070 --> 00:18:22,020 Christians trust in Jesus. 411 00:18:22,889 --> 00:18:24,209 We trust in what Jesus did. 412 00:18:24,810 --> 00:18:26,820 So what you should rely on is, oh well. 413 00:18:28,155 --> 00:18:30,405 Jesus paid for my sin on the cross. 414 00:18:31,425 --> 00:18:33,195 I am not good enough to go to heaven. 415 00:18:33,435 --> 00:18:36,195 There's nothing about me that makes me good enough. 416 00:18:36,495 --> 00:18:39,705 There's nothing about me that that means that God should forgive me. 417 00:18:41,415 --> 00:18:43,575 The only reason that I should go to heaven is because of 418 00:18:43,575 --> 00:18:44,595 Jesus, something that he did. 419 00:18:44,685 --> 00:18:45,465 That's what I rely on. 420 00:18:45,825 --> 00:18:49,665 I rely on him to take away my sin, and I rely on His righteousness 421 00:18:49,665 --> 00:18:50,475 to make me good enough. 422 00:18:51,165 --> 00:18:55,665 You trust that, and I rely that he rose from the dead. 423 00:18:56,415 --> 00:18:58,334 That's why I know I'm gonna live forever with God and not 424 00:18:58,334 --> 00:19:00,014 just die and then not exist. 425 00:19:02,774 --> 00:19:07,905 So the problem with relying on these outward signs is it's your resume, right? 426 00:19:07,905 --> 00:19:09,885 You're saying, look at all the things that I did. 427 00:19:11,804 --> 00:19:14,445 You're not admitting that, oh, I'm not good enough. 428 00:19:15,495 --> 00:19:17,264 I don't measure up to God's standard, right? 429 00:19:17,294 --> 00:19:17,985 I'm a sinner. 430 00:19:18,615 --> 00:19:20,504 Because what you're doing, when you rely on these outward signs, 431 00:19:20,504 --> 00:19:23,145 you're pointing to look at, look at all the things that I've done, God. 432 00:19:23,445 --> 00:19:25,215 I memorized the books of the Bible. 433 00:19:25,215 --> 00:19:26,294 I went to church. 434 00:19:26,325 --> 00:19:27,195 I love this person. 435 00:19:27,195 --> 00:19:27,945 I shared the gospel. 436 00:19:27,945 --> 00:19:33,044 I go to Bible study, I do this, and that's your resume, not Jesus' resume. 437 00:19:33,075 --> 00:19:35,325 What you should be pointing to is, look what Jesus did for me 438 00:19:35,445 --> 00:19:39,885 and I trust him, and that's why I think you should forgive me God. 439 00:19:39,885 --> 00:19:42,315 Not because of meme, but because of Jesus. 440 00:19:43,754 --> 00:19:49,335 But also sometimes Christians, we can start to rely on these outward signs too. 441 00:19:49,365 --> 00:19:52,695 Maybe not for salvation, but maybe we get really prideful. 442 00:19:53,774 --> 00:19:58,095 We start boasting in these things like, oh, well look at all the things that I do. 443 00:19:58,695 --> 00:20:02,774 Like, yeah, I know God saved me, but since then, look at me and we 444 00:20:02,774 --> 00:20:03,885 start looking down at other people. 445 00:20:04,304 --> 00:20:07,485 Maybe we look down on newer Christians who don't know as much or haven't grown 446 00:20:07,485 --> 00:20:10,784 as much, or maybe we look down on, on people who aren't Christians because, 447 00:20:10,784 --> 00:20:11,774 oh, I can't believe they do that. 448 00:20:11,774 --> 00:20:12,945 Can you believe that they said this? 449 00:20:13,395 --> 00:20:15,465 Can you believe that they talked about this thing, or they watched 450 00:20:15,465 --> 00:20:18,405 this video, or they watched that show? 451 00:20:19,544 --> 00:20:21,584 They like that thing on Instagram. 452 00:20:22,004 --> 00:20:23,834 We can easily, or they play that game, right? 453 00:20:23,834 --> 00:20:27,254 We can, we can easily start looking down on other people for things 454 00:20:27,254 --> 00:20:28,695 that God did in our life, right? 455 00:20:29,054 --> 00:20:31,695 Sanctification is God's work in you. 456 00:20:32,384 --> 00:20:34,064 It's, it's a fruit of the spirit, right? 457 00:20:34,064 --> 00:20:38,294 Not fruit of your really hard work, not fruit of you being really awesome, right? 458 00:20:38,294 --> 00:20:40,274 Those things are fruit of the spirit. 459 00:20:40,304 --> 00:20:41,445 They're, they're from the Holy Spirit. 460 00:20:41,445 --> 00:20:44,054 They're not from you being such an awesome person. 461 00:20:45,389 --> 00:20:48,090 Sometimes it's easy for us to get really prideful and, and 462 00:20:48,090 --> 00:20:50,159 say, oh, well I must be so great. 463 00:20:50,220 --> 00:20:51,419 No wonder God saved me. 464 00:20:52,649 --> 00:20:53,850 And that's not what we wanna do either, right? 465 00:20:53,850 --> 00:20:58,050 Because then we're, we're taking our, our really, our our repentance, 466 00:20:58,050 --> 00:21:02,580 our, our gift from God that he's done in us, that his work through us. 467 00:21:02,730 --> 00:21:04,139 And we're saying we're taking credit for it. 468 00:21:05,070 --> 00:21:08,580 We're saying that, oh yeah, the evidence of God's work in my life, that's all me. 469 00:21:09,750 --> 00:21:10,409 That's what we're doing. 470 00:21:10,679 --> 00:21:13,590 So it's really easy for Christians to do something similar. 471 00:21:14,820 --> 00:21:20,219 And also you probably noticed in verse 24, it talked about the name of God 472 00:21:20,219 --> 00:21:26,280 can be blasphemed before other people because of you, if you claim to be a 473 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,139 Christian, you are representing God. 474 00:21:28,350 --> 00:21:32,580 People are forming an opinion about who God is, who Jesus is, what he's like, 475 00:21:32,669 --> 00:21:34,350 what church is about because of you. 476 00:21:34,350 --> 00:21:38,459 Even if you're not a Christian and you go around saying you're a Christian, people 477 00:21:38,459 --> 00:21:41,850 are forming an opinion of church of Jesus. 478 00:21:42,675 --> 00:21:46,935 Because of you, you have an opportunity to make God look really bad, right? 479 00:21:46,935 --> 00:21:48,705 Someone could say, oh, I don't want to, I don't wanna be a 480 00:21:48,705 --> 00:21:50,175 part of that, that religion. 481 00:21:50,205 --> 00:21:53,805 I don't wanna be, I don't want to have if, if you're God's like that, no thanks. 482 00:21:54,105 --> 00:21:54,435 Right? 483 00:21:54,795 --> 00:21:56,415 Or you can do the opposite. 484 00:21:56,415 --> 00:22:00,705 You can be the reason someone says, you know what the, I 485 00:22:00,705 --> 00:22:03,195 don't, I don't know anyone else who's as joyful as that person. 486 00:22:03,285 --> 00:22:04,365 I want what they have. 487 00:22:04,815 --> 00:22:06,735 I don't know anyone else who's patient like that person. 488 00:22:06,855 --> 00:22:09,015 I don't know anyone else who's kind like that person. 489 00:22:09,495 --> 00:22:10,254 I want what they have. 490 00:22:10,514 --> 00:22:13,844 If you have an opportunity to make God look really, really good, 'cause 491 00:22:13,844 --> 00:22:16,784 hopefully in that moment you're not gonna be like, yep, I know. 492 00:22:16,844 --> 00:22:19,064 I don't know anyone as patient as me either, right? 493 00:22:19,064 --> 00:22:20,864 Hopefully you're gonna say, you know, that's God's work in me. 494 00:22:20,895 --> 00:22:22,004 You're not gonna take credit for it. 495 00:22:22,124 --> 00:22:23,384 You're gonna say, this is God's work. 496 00:22:23,774 --> 00:22:25,604 God's grace, God's spirit. 497 00:22:26,985 --> 00:22:29,925 So you have an opportunity to make Jesus look great to other people. 498 00:22:31,889 --> 00:22:36,405 Now, Paul's gonna go on to talk about the, the outward sign of religion 499 00:22:36,614 --> 00:22:39,014 that the Jews were most proud of. 500 00:22:39,540 --> 00:22:42,330 They were they that was like, this is like, this is their thing. 501 00:22:42,689 --> 00:22:44,820 This is what makes us God's people. 502 00:22:45,030 --> 00:22:45,330 Okay? 503 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:50,189 And that thing you'll see here in verse 25, okay, so read along with me, verse 504 00:22:50,189 --> 00:22:53,820 25, Paul's gonna talk about circumcision. 505 00:22:53,850 --> 00:22:57,990 Now, circumcision was an outward sign that the Jews were part of God's people, right? 506 00:22:57,990 --> 00:23:01,590 It was this sign that God gave Abraham to say, these are my people. 507 00:23:01,709 --> 00:23:02,850 I've chosen you. 508 00:23:03,209 --> 00:23:04,709 If you don't know what it is, go ask your parents. 509 00:23:04,980 --> 00:23:06,060 So circumcision. 510 00:23:06,570 --> 00:23:09,179 Indeed your, your covenant marker, right? 511 00:23:09,179 --> 00:23:10,860 The sign that you are part of God's people, right? 512 00:23:10,860 --> 00:23:14,970 In, in our, in our day and age, this is baptism, right? 513 00:23:14,970 --> 00:23:17,790 This is, this is the, the outward sign that someone is a 514 00:23:17,790 --> 00:23:19,379 Christian is they get baptized. 515 00:23:19,409 --> 00:23:19,980 That's what they do. 516 00:23:21,179 --> 00:23:22,080 That's the outward sign. 517 00:23:22,199 --> 00:23:24,600 So this is almost like saying, well, I got baptized, so I 518 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:25,709 must be part of God's people. 519 00:23:25,949 --> 00:23:26,850 That's what these users are saying. 520 00:23:26,909 --> 00:23:30,449 They're saying, I have this marker, so that means I'm. 521 00:23:30,824 --> 00:23:32,114 Part of God's people, right? 522 00:23:32,354 --> 00:23:36,284 So for circumcision, indeed is a value if you obey the law. 523 00:23:36,344 --> 00:23:39,435 But if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 524 00:23:39,945 --> 00:23:41,144 So it's, it's like it never happened. 525 00:23:41,534 --> 00:23:43,784 It's, it's almost like you don't even have it. 526 00:23:44,834 --> 00:23:45,495 Verse 26. 527 00:23:45,495 --> 00:23:49,215 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, 528 00:23:49,394 --> 00:23:53,114 will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 529 00:23:53,114 --> 00:23:54,915 So verse 26 is saying the opposite, right? 530 00:23:55,004 --> 00:23:58,124 Who if someone who has never been marked as part of God's people. 531 00:23:58,679 --> 00:24:02,999 Keeps the law and they start doing the things that God says and they 532 00:24:02,999 --> 00:24:06,570 start living from a, a heart that that shows that, oh, maybe they 533 00:24:06,570 --> 00:24:08,340 really are part of God's people. 534 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:14,039 That's the person that shows more evidence of being part of God's people, not the 535 00:24:14,039 --> 00:24:17,189 person who has the outward sign, but the person who actually lives like it. 536 00:24:18,269 --> 00:24:18,945 Then verse 27. 537 00:24:20,580 --> 00:24:24,090 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn 538 00:24:24,090 --> 00:24:27,210 you who have the written code and circumcision, but break the law. 539 00:24:27,270 --> 00:24:31,110 So just because you have the Bible, just because you have this sign that 540 00:24:31,110 --> 00:24:35,310 you're God's people, if you're still breaking the law, if you're still living 541 00:24:35,310 --> 00:24:41,400 like you're not part of God's people, these people who maybe aren't, you 542 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:43,500 know, aren't Jewish in a sense, right? 543 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:45,040 They're gonna, they're gonna put you to shame. 544 00:24:46,230 --> 00:24:49,500 It's like the person who grows up in church and then they, they end 545 00:24:49,500 --> 00:24:51,300 up living this, this horrible life. 546 00:24:53,070 --> 00:24:56,730 He's saying that it's actually, it'd be better if you were a drug addict 547 00:24:57,179 --> 00:25:02,879 and you went to prison and then you got saved at 25 and came back to, and 548 00:25:02,939 --> 00:25:04,379 started coming to church and got saved. 549 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,020 That person's putting you to shame if you grew up in the church and you just 550 00:25:07,020 --> 00:25:09,899 have dead faith the whole time, even though you're sitting front row and 551 00:25:09,899 --> 00:25:12,725 listening to the sermons, if there's no spiritual heartbeat in your life. 552 00:25:13,409 --> 00:25:16,169 That person's putting you shame 'cause they actually have the real thing. 553 00:25:17,790 --> 00:25:20,159 And that is exactly where Paul goes here for. 554 00:25:20,159 --> 00:25:25,620 No one is a Jew who is merely one out, uh, outwardly nor is 555 00:25:25,620 --> 00:25:27,180 circumcision outward and physical. 556 00:25:28,110 --> 00:25:32,280 But a Jew is one inwardly and circumcision is a matter of the heart 557 00:25:32,310 --> 00:25:34,649 by the spirit, not by the letter. 558 00:25:34,649 --> 00:25:41,220 So what Paul is saying here is that a, a true Jew right, want someone 559 00:25:41,220 --> 00:25:42,720 who's really part of God's people. 560 00:25:44,534 --> 00:25:46,965 Is not ethnically a Jew. 561 00:25:48,705 --> 00:25:51,645 They are spiritually a Jew. 562 00:25:52,094 --> 00:25:55,725 So a true Jew is the person who has a heart, right? 563 00:25:55,784 --> 00:25:59,804 A heart that's been changed by God, by his spirit. 564 00:26:00,134 --> 00:26:02,895 And this is what the Old Testament talks about, the Old Testament, when it talks 565 00:26:02,895 --> 00:26:04,814 about who's really part of God's people. 566 00:26:05,384 --> 00:26:08,235 It talks a lot about how the, it's not the people who visibly 567 00:26:08,235 --> 00:26:10,634 maybe have this marker from God. 568 00:26:11,129 --> 00:26:13,049 It's the people who have a changed heart. 569 00:26:14,310 --> 00:26:18,029 Those are the people who are really part of God's people, right? 570 00:26:18,029 --> 00:26:19,739 Real Christians have a new heart. 571 00:26:19,769 --> 00:26:20,639 That's what we talked about. 572 00:26:21,389 --> 00:26:26,699 So the heart is what matters, not your external religion. 573 00:26:26,699 --> 00:26:26,909 Right? 574 00:26:26,909 --> 00:26:29,039 So this this true Jew idea. 575 00:26:29,519 --> 00:26:34,289 You got me thinking about, um, you guys ever see this thing at like school? 576 00:26:35,310 --> 00:26:35,399 Yes. 577 00:26:35,459 --> 00:26:38,189 So I made this just for fun. 578 00:26:39,959 --> 00:26:40,199 Um. 579 00:26:41,445 --> 00:26:43,155 I'm really proud of this. 580 00:26:43,395 --> 00:26:45,405 Um, there you go. 581 00:26:46,185 --> 00:26:49,305 See, and it's, it's really, it's got bible verse on it, not about the label. 582 00:26:49,305 --> 00:26:49,605 You get that? 583 00:26:49,605 --> 00:26:52,125 'cause it's like a milk carton, not about appearances. 584 00:26:52,245 --> 00:26:54,435 Genuine faith flows from the inside. 585 00:26:54,435 --> 00:26:55,275 Anyway, sorry. 586 00:26:55,275 --> 00:26:56,265 I thought that was really good. 587 00:26:56,295 --> 00:26:57,045 I had fun with that. 588 00:26:58,245 --> 00:27:02,504 I so be, be a true Jew. 589 00:27:03,285 --> 00:27:05,235 Not, anyway. 590 00:27:05,265 --> 00:27:05,835 There you go. 591 00:27:06,915 --> 00:27:10,000 So what Paul's point is who, who's really part of God's people. 592 00:27:10,679 --> 00:27:13,590 Right, are the people who are really part of God's people, the people who 593 00:27:13,590 --> 00:27:17,610 maybe look like it on the outside or the people who have a new heart 594 00:27:18,270 --> 00:27:22,830 by God's spirit, those are the people who are really God's people. 595 00:27:23,669 --> 00:27:26,399 God's people are those who have a changed heart. 596 00:27:26,399 --> 00:27:33,000 So our second point tonight depend on God for heart transformation, depend 597 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:34,620 on God for heart transformation. 598 00:27:41,354 --> 00:27:44,534 So outward change doesn't make you part of God's people. 599 00:27:45,705 --> 00:27:46,544 That's Paul's point. 600 00:27:47,354 --> 00:27:49,215 Outward change doesn't make you part of God's people. 601 00:27:49,665 --> 00:27:53,985 What makes you part of God's people is actually when God does something for you, 602 00:27:54,824 --> 00:27:58,094 God does something to you, and that's what makes you part of God's people, 603 00:27:59,235 --> 00:28:01,485 not something that you do for yourself. 604 00:28:02,084 --> 00:28:03,675 That's why it's depend on God, right? 605 00:28:03,675 --> 00:28:05,145 You can't do this to yourself. 606 00:28:06,225 --> 00:28:07,875 God has to do this to you. 607 00:28:08,115 --> 00:28:13,275 The only way that you can become a Christian is if God does a miracle to you. 608 00:28:15,885 --> 00:28:20,325 The only way that someone can get saved and become a part of God's people is 609 00:28:20,325 --> 00:28:26,625 if God intervenes miraculously and fundamentally changes who you are. 610 00:28:28,035 --> 00:28:29,505 Maybe you've never thought about it that way before. 611 00:28:30,255 --> 00:28:31,490 That's how someone becomes a Christian. 612 00:28:33,735 --> 00:28:35,774 You can't become a Christian apart from God. 613 00:28:36,044 --> 00:28:37,754 God has to do it to you. 614 00:28:39,915 --> 00:28:43,665 Kind of like how a couple weeks ago we talked about how my car was broken 615 00:28:43,665 --> 00:28:45,644 and I needed a new engine, right? 616 00:28:45,644 --> 00:28:46,995 I couldn't just fix the old engine. 617 00:28:47,445 --> 00:28:49,904 I couldn't just add some things on and say, oh, great. 618 00:28:50,384 --> 00:28:51,435 Now, now my car's good. 619 00:28:51,854 --> 00:28:53,594 I needed an entirely new engine. 620 00:28:53,624 --> 00:28:54,824 I needed a different engine. 621 00:28:55,995 --> 00:28:59,175 And hopefully that's what you, you're gonna see from all of these sermons 622 00:28:59,415 --> 00:29:01,274 about how much of a sinner we are. 623 00:29:02,639 --> 00:29:04,620 Is that we're so sinful. 624 00:29:04,710 --> 00:29:07,050 We don't just need some fixing, right? 625 00:29:07,050 --> 00:29:10,350 We don't just need to, to start changing some habits and maybe start doing 626 00:29:10,350 --> 00:29:13,920 things a little better or maybe start believing some, some more right things 627 00:29:14,100 --> 00:29:17,879 and maybe, oh, I, once I start doing those like church things, then great. 628 00:29:17,879 --> 00:29:18,750 Now I'm right with God. 629 00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:23,190 You need a, you need a heart transplant, right? 630 00:29:23,190 --> 00:29:27,060 You, you need to, you need God to do something to you to get saved. 631 00:29:27,330 --> 00:29:29,520 That's how sinful we are our hearts. 632 00:29:30,030 --> 00:29:34,949 Are so messed up, no matter how much we try to make them look nice on the outside, 633 00:29:36,389 --> 00:29:43,530 that we need God to do a miracle to us, to save us the defining mark of God's people. 634 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:48,750 In the Old Testament, it was circumcision, but now, and it really has always 635 00:29:48,750 --> 00:29:54,689 been the Holy Spirit, creating a transformed heart, that's the defining 636 00:29:54,689 --> 00:29:56,429 mark of God's people is a new heart. 637 00:29:56,969 --> 00:29:58,049 By God's spirit. 638 00:29:58,439 --> 00:30:00,959 So you don't become a Christian any other way. 639 00:30:01,049 --> 00:30:02,729 That's the only way you can do this. 640 00:30:02,729 --> 00:30:04,439 God has to do it to you. 641 00:30:05,519 --> 00:30:08,039 And so that's why when we talk about, oh, if you're not sure if you're 642 00:30:08,039 --> 00:30:09,239 a Christian, what should you do? 643 00:30:10,199 --> 00:30:10,439 Right? 644 00:30:10,439 --> 00:30:12,479 We, we don't wanna say, well, just some. 645 00:30:12,539 --> 00:30:15,870 'cause some of you, you, you've done all the right church things your whole life. 646 00:30:16,229 --> 00:30:18,449 So some of you, you become a Christian, it doesn't look that different on 647 00:30:18,449 --> 00:30:23,249 the outside necessarily because maybe you already did read your Bible, 648 00:30:23,429 --> 00:30:24,629 you already did memorize verses. 649 00:30:24,870 --> 00:30:26,100 You already did know the gospel. 650 00:30:27,870 --> 00:30:30,990 Your heart changed, and you should know that it should be obvious to you, right? 651 00:30:30,990 --> 00:30:34,350 The, the, the metaphors that the Bible uses for getting saved, being 652 00:30:34,350 --> 00:30:40,379 raised from the dead, getting a new heart, those aren't like, oh, maybe 653 00:30:40,379 --> 00:30:44,550 that did happen to me 10 years ago and I just haven't really noticed it. 654 00:30:45,179 --> 00:30:45,600 Right? 655 00:30:46,050 --> 00:30:49,500 Like, it should be fairly obvious, at least over, maybe, at least 656 00:30:49,500 --> 00:30:51,480 over a couple years, right? 657 00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:52,740 If you're saying, oh, I got saved at. 658 00:30:53,729 --> 00:30:56,219 At 10 years old and, and I've been the same ever since. 659 00:30:56,669 --> 00:31:02,310 And even, and maybe you should think about that and say, okay, well if God gave 660 00:31:02,310 --> 00:31:04,800 me a new heart, what did, what changed? 661 00:31:04,860 --> 00:31:05,370 What happened? 662 00:31:06,060 --> 00:31:08,850 And so you wanna look at things like your desires, right? 663 00:31:08,999 --> 00:31:10,679 What did what I like changed? 664 00:31:11,070 --> 00:31:12,509 Did what I want changed? 665 00:31:12,899 --> 00:31:14,280 You wanna look at things like your motives. 666 00:31:14,699 --> 00:31:15,929 Why did I do the things I do? 667 00:31:16,169 --> 00:31:17,249 Maybe you already did serve. 668 00:31:17,985 --> 00:31:21,465 At church and you get saved, and now the reason you serve is totally different. 669 00:31:21,465 --> 00:31:24,524 Maybe you used to serve because you wanted to fit in, or you wanted to be 670 00:31:24,524 --> 00:31:27,524 good enough, or you wanted to impress people, and now maybe you serve 671 00:31:27,524 --> 00:31:32,084 because you love God, you love his people, you want to do good for them. 672 00:31:33,884 --> 00:31:35,745 You wanna look for change in your attitude, right? 673 00:31:35,745 --> 00:31:38,084 Maybe you always did your chores because you get in trouble if you 674 00:31:38,084 --> 00:31:42,524 didn't, but you became a Christian and then suddenly, oh, now it's, I do 675 00:31:42,524 --> 00:31:44,024 my chores because I love my parents. 676 00:31:44,294 --> 00:31:44,985 I wanna honor them. 677 00:31:45,044 --> 00:31:45,705 I love God. 678 00:31:46,529 --> 00:31:49,590 God calls me to, to do all things for his glory, and I'm gonna 679 00:31:49,620 --> 00:31:50,789 do the dishes for his glory. 680 00:31:51,929 --> 00:31:55,139 That's the kind of thing we're looking for when, when we're talking about 681 00:31:55,139 --> 00:31:58,620 getting a new heart, because you might do a lot of the same things. 682 00:31:59,189 --> 00:32:02,100 Maybe instead of reading your Bible just because you had to, now you read 683 00:32:02,100 --> 00:32:04,320 your Bible because it's, it's God. 684 00:32:04,499 --> 00:32:05,279 It's God's word. 685 00:32:05,279 --> 00:32:06,120 I wanna know him. 686 00:32:06,179 --> 00:32:06,870 I love him. 687 00:32:07,529 --> 00:32:12,209 That's the kind of thing that you should look for when you have a new heart. 688 00:32:14,070 --> 00:32:15,324 And I think also right for Christians. 689 00:32:15,915 --> 00:32:21,285 Sometimes we can forget that God is the one who does the heavy 690 00:32:21,285 --> 00:32:24,525 lifting in our growth, right? 691 00:32:24,825 --> 00:32:27,345 God is the one who, who changes our hearts. 692 00:32:28,125 --> 00:32:32,865 The only way that a Christian grows is by the Holy Spirit, right? 693 00:32:32,865 --> 00:32:37,965 Jesus says that if you abide in me, then you'll grow and bear much fruit. 694 00:32:38,595 --> 00:32:40,455 He doesn't say, try really hard and then come to me when you, 695 00:32:40,485 --> 00:32:42,735 when you've, when you've done enough, and then I'll help you. 696 00:32:43,875 --> 00:32:45,675 He says, no, you have to stay connected to me. 697 00:32:45,675 --> 00:32:47,895 And that's how you grow, right? 698 00:32:47,895 --> 00:32:50,985 You as a Christian, you grow with God. 699 00:32:51,795 --> 00:32:54,315 You stay connected to God, and that's how you grow. 700 00:32:55,605 --> 00:32:57,105 You can't grow apart from God. 701 00:32:57,315 --> 00:33:01,125 You also can't grow apart from the means that God gives you to grow, right? 702 00:33:01,125 --> 00:33:03,165 God gives you pathways to grow. 703 00:33:03,254 --> 00:33:08,805 He gives you places where you can, you can access his changing power. 704 00:33:10,155 --> 00:33:12,524 So if you're, if you're saying, oh, I'm a Christian, but I don't want to 705 00:33:12,524 --> 00:33:17,054 go to church, the church is a place that God uses to grow Christians. 706 00:33:17,475 --> 00:33:22,064 So you're cutting yourself off from God's God's lifeline to help you grow. 707 00:33:22,544 --> 00:33:22,695 Right? 708 00:33:22,695 --> 00:33:26,745 Or, uh, well, I, I love God, but I don't wanna read the Bible, right? 709 00:33:26,745 --> 00:33:31,395 You're cutting yourself off from God's lifeline for your growth. 710 00:33:32,985 --> 00:33:33,405 So. 711 00:33:36,180 --> 00:33:40,260 Even as a Christian, we need to depend on God for transformation, 712 00:33:40,260 --> 00:33:41,760 for real growth, for real change. 713 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:45,300 We don't just wanna stick things on and say, okay, now I did this better. 714 00:33:45,330 --> 00:33:46,020 Now I did this better. 715 00:33:46,020 --> 00:33:46,290 Right? 716 00:33:46,470 --> 00:33:47,189 Like, think about this. 717 00:33:47,189 --> 00:33:50,820 If you were a tree, if you're a, if you're a lemon tree, the way you grow 718 00:33:50,820 --> 00:33:55,680 lemons is not my getting other lemons and sticking them onto your tree, right? 719 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:59,310 If you want the lemon tree to grow lemons, real lemons, you 720 00:33:59,310 --> 00:34:01,645 focus on the roots and the soil. 721 00:34:02,474 --> 00:34:05,954 All that and the health of the tree, and then the, the fruit happens. 722 00:34:06,044 --> 00:34:08,085 You don't just stick fruit on it and say, oh, great. 723 00:34:08,145 --> 00:34:09,255 Look, look at my tree. 724 00:34:09,675 --> 00:34:10,784 It's so, it's so healthy. 725 00:34:10,784 --> 00:34:12,495 It's so awesome, right? 726 00:34:12,495 --> 00:34:17,955 So if we don't change from outside in, we change from inside out. 727 00:34:19,005 --> 00:34:21,344 So none of this spiritual growth will save you. 728 00:34:21,614 --> 00:34:22,965 It comes from being safe, right? 729 00:34:22,965 --> 00:34:25,574 It comes from a heart transformation. 730 00:34:27,014 --> 00:34:28,485 Let's pray and we'll go to small groups. 731 00:34:30,525 --> 00:34:32,804 God, thank you that you change us. 732 00:34:32,864 --> 00:34:34,304 We are so sinful. 733 00:34:34,995 --> 00:34:36,645 We are the worst. 734 00:34:37,065 --> 00:34:38,114 We deserve your wrath. 735 00:34:38,835 --> 00:34:44,625 But because of Jesus, we can be forgiven because he took our punishment and 736 00:34:44,625 --> 00:34:46,065 because he gives us righteousness. 737 00:34:46,364 --> 00:34:49,665 If we trust him and we turn from our sin, we can be saved. 738 00:34:49,905 --> 00:34:52,065 And so I pray for students here who haven't done that, that they 739 00:34:52,065 --> 00:34:57,465 would recognize that they are lost, helpless, wicked evil, and that. 740 00:34:58,170 --> 00:35:02,070 They would turn from their sin and trust Jesus for forgiveness. 741 00:35:02,580 --> 00:35:04,920 I pray for those of us who are saved, that we would remember 742 00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:07,500 that we are still in our flesh. 743 00:35:07,890 --> 00:35:14,070 Even though we are not slaves to sin, we are still not very good at following you. 744 00:35:14,610 --> 00:35:18,360 And so I pray that you help us have the humility to depend on you for growth. 745 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:21,450 That we wouldn't try to impress you by doing stuff on our 746 00:35:21,450 --> 00:35:22,860 own, but we would come to you. 747 00:35:24,015 --> 00:35:27,555 Connect ourselves to you through your word, through other Christians, through 748 00:35:27,555 --> 00:35:30,885 prayer, and that we would learn to love you more through those things. 749 00:35:31,455 --> 00:35:33,435 Help us to grow a lot from small groups. 750 00:35:33,435 --> 00:35:35,265 Help us to talk about good things and be honest. 751 00:35:35,955 --> 00:35:37,155 We pray all this in Jesus name. 752 00:35:37,395 --> 00:35:37,755 Amen. 753 00:35:38,805 --> 00:35:40,065 Alright, have a good small group.