Now, my text this morning is
verse 5 of 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Brother Joe just read. The title of the message comes
from that verse, The Obedience of Christ. The Obedience of Christ. That I want to talk to you about
this morning. Let me preface it this way. The Apostle Paul,
like all true preachers of the gospel had his critics. Apparently had quite a few of
them. That's what occasioned this portion of his letter, his
second letter to the church at Corinth because false teachers,
false preachers had crept into these churches as they are apt
to do in the last days, in our day too. And they sought to promote
their false message by criticizing Paul. And he criticized Paul
in his character, his conduct, his attitude, his mannerisms,
even his looks. I don't know what Paul looked
like, but apparently they had some reason to criticize him
even over that. And so Paul had his critics.
Now one of the things about having critics, is that you have to
learn to not listen to them. You have to learn to not listen
to them. And I believe Paul had that gift. I think that what
Paul is doing here in 2 Corinthians 10 is Paul didn't listen to his
critics. He didn't plan or purpose his ministry,
his preaching around his critics. Most of the time he didn't even
answer them. But every once in a while, the criticisms affected
the people to whom Paul ministered to the point that he was forced
to deal with them when he really didn't want to. In fact, in one
passage of scripture, he says, bear with me in my folly. In
other words, it's foolish that I even have to do this, but because
it has so affected you, then I have to answer this. And the
church at Corinth was pretty much apt to that. And you have
to learn not to listen to your critics. I remember reading a
story one time about an old man who was criticizing a young man
because the young man wouldn't listen to the sound wisdom and
advice of the old sage. And a fellow stepped in. He said, well, the old man said,
that fellow's a fool. He's a young fool. And he said,
you're right. He's a young fool. And the guy said, well, what's
the difference between a young fool and an old fool? And he
said, well, a young fool doesn't listen to anybody. An old fool
listens to his critics. And I think that's probably true.
But you have to learn. You have to learn to do that.
And I always think about two passages of scripture. One is
a very comforting, well, they're both comforting, but one of them
is pretty convicting, to me anyway, when I think about myself in
these areas. And you ask when Christ said in the Sermon on
the Mount, in Matthew 5, he said, verse 11, blessed are you when
men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. And then he said, rejoice and
be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For
so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. And I
know one thing about that verse. It has absolutely nothing to
do with how I feel. Because I gotta tell you, when
people criticize and revile and say all manner of evil against
me or you, I don't feel blessed when they do that. But I know
that I am blessed because God said it. And that settles it,
doesn't it? He said it. And so it has nothing
to do with feeling or how you feel. I'm just not going to be
fake with you all. I'm just not going to do it.
I mean, I feel bad when people do it, but I know I'm blessed
because God says I'm blessed in Christ. And that does make
me feel better. The very convicting verse is
in Matthew chapter 7 when he talks about how we're to bless
those that persecute us, those that say all manner of evil against
us who use us that way. That's tough, isn't it? I know
it's right. And I know, thank God, I have
a spirit within me by the grace and power of God that even desires
in any degree to do that. But that's a tough one, isn't
it? It shows me that I'm a sinner saved by grace. I must have Christ. There's nothing about me or in
me that would recommend me unto God or make me righteous before
God. Well, here in 2 Corinthians 10,
Paul is answering these critics. He starts out, look at verse
1, he says, Now I, Paul, myself, beseech you, I beg you. 2 Corinthians
10.1. by the meekness and gentleness
of Christ." That word meekness means submission. Christ submitted
Himself to the will of His Father for what purpose? To glorify
His Father in the salvation of His people. And we're to submit. That's one of the biggest parts
of salvation, submission. We submit to God's will and God's
way. We submit to his righteousness.
Remember in Romans 10, they would not submit to the righteousness
of God. Well, what is the righteousness
of God? It's Christ and him crucified and risen. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness. But then gentleness, that's a
fruit of the spirit, isn't it? Well, meekness and gentleness
are all fruit of the spirit. Be gentle. In other words, you
don't answer in kind. You don't put your thoughts into
action. Because my thoughts aren't always gentle. But you don't
put them into action. You know better. And he says,
the gentleness of Christ. He says, and he speaks of himself,
Paul, who in presence is in base among you. And as I said, I don't
know what Paul looked like. It doesn't matter. But he says,
but being absent and bold towards you. He says in verse two, but
I beseech you that I may not be bold when I'm present with
that confidence wherewith I think to be bold against some. which
think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. Now, what's going
on here is that Paul's critics said, now, when he's with you,
he's one kind of person. He's, you know, real easy to
get along with, real gentle and real meek. And then when he's
away from you, he's, you know, he just put it to you, you know,
in a letter, you know, write a letter. Well, you know, That's
human nature. I mean, I've had things written
to me by email that I know guys wouldn't say to me in front of
my face. I mean, it's just the way it is. But I don't think
Paul was that way. He's just simply saying, look,
when the occasion arises, I'll do what it takes. I'll do what's
necessary, no matter what my critics say. And they accused
him of walking after the flesh, walking according to the flesh.
Now, that phrase, You know, Romans chapter 8 speaks of walking after
the flesh and walking after the Spirit. Walking after the flesh
in Romans 8 is an unbeliever. That's an unregenerate person,
an unbelief, doesn't know Christ. Walking after the Spirit is a
regenerate person, born again by the Spirit, looking to Christ,
following Him. But here what he's talking about
is these critics said Paul had fleshly motives for his ministry.
He was in it to gain or he was in it to get a following for
himself. He was motivated by self-promotion. But Paul says
that's not true. Look at verse 3. He says, for
though we walk in the flesh, that's in this physical body,
physical human beings, and though we're still sinners, Paul dealt
with that. He said, this is a faithful saying,
worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. Not was chief, but am
chief. And I believe he stated that
from the point of view of the fact that he knew himself. And
that's what he's saying. Now he's not just trying to do
a one-upsmanship on somebody. But though we walk in the flesh,
We have weaknesses, we have quirks, we have personalities. We have
all the problems that come with the flesh. The infirmities of
the flesh. We don't war after the flesh.
The warfare. Now every believer has a spiritual
warfare. We know that. Galatians chapter
five speaks of it. Romans chapter seven speaks of
it. It's a warfare of the flesh and the spirit. We have desires
that are sinful. We have desires that are godly. And we have a warfare waging
within us every day of our lives. It never quits. Not in this life
now. It'll quit in the next life.
When we go to be with the Lord. We'll be like Him. But it doesn't
quit. And I don't care it's your best
moment. You're having that warfare right now. When I bow my head
to pray, I'm having that warfare. When I read the scripture, when
I preach a message, I'm having that warfare of the flesh and
the spirit. It's just something that is part
and parcel of being a child of God. It's part of salvation. But the warfare that Paul's talking
about here is the warfare that he himself is engaged in in the
ministry. A soldier in the army of Christ. The Bible often uses that analogy,
doesn't it? Think about Ephesians chapter
6, put on the whole armor of God and list that armor out. Soldiers in the warfare of God.
And he says, we're not warring after the flesh. We're not warring
with guns and knives and brainwashings and false motives. Let me tell
you something about church history. And you think about this. Anytime
somebody shot a gun or wielded a knife or a sword or tortured
anybody in the name of Christ, it was a big lie. It was not
true Christianity. Don't let anybody ever tell you.
You know, they talk about how Christians persecute. No, sir. False Christians did, but not
true. Christ never warranted any true
Christian to do anything like that in the flesh, to try to
change somebody's mind or heart or anything. That's not the way
we do it. And I know people will bring
up the Old Testament and the Jews. That's not Christianity,
folks. That was the Old Covenant. That
was a rebellious people who didn't follow the Lord. We can have
a lot of discussion on that, but you'll be glad that I'm not
going to do that this morning. But you see, no one has ever
been warranted or commanded by Christ to draw weapons, physical
weapons against anybody in order to get them to become a Christian.
You can't do it that way. That's not how one becomes a
Christian. We don't war after the flesh, you see. And then
look at verse 4. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, they're not fleshly. But they're mighty, they're powerful.
Bible speaks of the word of God that is sharper than any, what?
Two-edged sword. We don't use the sword of steel,
we use the sword of the spirit, the sword of the word of God.
We preach the gospel and through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
And what are those strongholds? Now look at verse five, casting
down imaginations. In your concordance, you may
have the word reasonings. Well, what reasonings is he talking
about? He's talking about the natural
man's thinking, his ideas, his knowledge, which is in the comparison
with the gospel, we have ignorance, darkness, his unbelief, the thoughts
of his heart, the imaginations of his heart, his religious thoughts,
his ideas, his self-righteousness, his unbelief. The gospel ministry
is aimed at the heart. You see, it's not a pistol or
a sword or torture or anything. It's aimed at the heart. Now,
all we are is instruments in the hands of God, who by His
Spirit changes the hearts, the minds, the affections, the wills
of men. I can't change your heart. I
can't even change my own heart. It takes the Spirit of Christ
to do that, doesn't it? And He uses the sword of the
Word. But as we preach the gospel, we don't wield weapons of the
flesh. And we're not aiming to take
over countries and buildings and things like that. We're casting
down imaginations. And then he says, every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. Preaching
the gospel aimed at the heart, it's not just outward reformation.
We may need outward reformation. That's not all bad, but that's
not what we're aimed at. You see, it's not what's on the
outside, it's what's on the inside. It's not what goes into the mouth
that defiles, it's what comes out of the heart. And that's
what we're praying for as we preach the gospel, that God will
change our hearts. He'll give us a new heart. And
it's the power of God by the Holy Spirit to give spiritual
life to dead sinners. To create that new heart and
a new spirit. To bring sinners from darkness
to light. To bring sinners to faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ and repentance of dead works and idolatry and
sin. And this knowledge of God. Where
is the knowledge of God according to the Bible? It's in Christ.
That's how we know God. Savingly. In Christ as the Savior
of His people. In the Bible, we're told that
it's through Christ that we come to know God as both a just God
and a Savior. No other way. We're told that
in Christ we know how God can be both a just God, a righteous
judge, as well as a loving, merciful, and gracious Father. It's all
through Christ and Him crucified and risen. It's all based upon
His shed blood. His righteousness imputed. He
said in John 17, 3, in his High Priestly Prayer, He said, this
is life eternal, that they might know Thee, and Thee only, and
Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. And then he says, bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now,
this obedience of Christ is an interesting phrase. I believe
it has basically two major ways of being understood. Both are
correct. But one thing that is apparent
here is that disobedience, whatever it is, whatever he's talking
about, it is not an option for the people of God. It's a necessity. It's a necessity. First of all, disobedience of
Christ has to do with the obedience of Jesus Christ Himself as the
Savior of His people. And what He is showing us is
this, is that our salvation, our complete total salvation
is totally dependent upon what Christ did in obeying the will
of His Father unto death. Over in the book of Philippians
chapter 2, it speaks of Christ who made Himself of no reputation,
who became obedient even unto the death of the cross. Why did
He do that? Because God is a holy, just,
and righteous God, and in order to save me and you, He must be
just in doing so. Somebody had to die for the sins
of God's people. Somebody who's qualified, somebody
who's appointed, and somebody who's willing. And the only one
who fits that bill is the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person
of the Trinity, the God-man. The God-man who was made flesh
and dwelt among us. He's the substitute of his people.
He's the surety of his people. He paid our sin debt in full,
all of his people. saved, justified in Him. And
then this obedience of Christ, this obedience is a complete
and total dependence upon Christ for all of salvation. Look across
the page at verse 17. Paul, he deals with this in 1
Corinthians 1, but listen to what he says in verse 17 of 2
Corinthians. He says, but he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Now that word glory, I've told
you this many times, but that word glory, means to boast. The idea is to have confidence.
And what he's saying is if you have confidence, if you have
anything in which to boast, have confidence in the Lord. Have
boast in the Lord. It's the same word that he used
in Galatians 6.14, but God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the same word he used in
Philippians chapter three in verse three, when he says, we
are the circumcision, which worship God in spirit and rejoice. That word rejoice is the same
word glory here, glory in Christ Jesus and have no confidence
in the flesh. My confidence in salvation is
not me. My confidence in salvation, my
assurance of salvation is not what I do or what I don't do.
Are there things that I should do? Of course there are. Are
there things I should not do? Of course there are. But that's
not my confidence. That's not my righteousness before
God. That's not even my holiness. Christ is. You understand that? We're talking about this morning
those things that are freely given. My confidence is not in
my preaching. No sir. My confidence is in the
one whom I preach. My preaching is not my righteousness. Christ is. Do you see what I
am saying? And I want every thought, all my thinking, all my attitude
to be brought into submission to the obedience of Christ. And this obedience is necessary,
as I said. I brought this out in an outline
form in Wednesday night's message, and I told you I was going to
capitalize on it. I'm going to give you the same outline. I've got five
reasons this obedience is necessary, but let me give you this first.
First of all, it's necessary not because we're saved by our
obedience. We're saved by Christ's obedience.
And it's necessary not because we earn God's favor and blessings
by our obedience. That's all earned by his. You
know, here's the thing about it. Now, this may be a little
difficult to understand, but that's what I've told you, that
Christianity is advanced citizenships, folk. I mean, it's not just easy
believism. You know, there are blessings
from God that are connected with our obedience. There are blessings
that are connected with our obedience. But it's not because we earn
those blessings by our obedience. In no way. It's because God has
deemed it that way that he's going to bless you. I'll give
you an example of what you're doing this morning. You've come
to this fellowship here to worship God. And if you have a heart
for God given you by the Holy Spirit, you're going to be blessed.
And if you didn't come, you wouldn't be in this way now. But you didn't
earn one blessing from God by walking through those doors and
sitting in those pews. You didn't earn it at all. It's a free gift
of God's grace given you in Christ Jesus, period. But God has purpose
to bless his people in their worship. in hearing the Word
of God, in hearing Christ lifted up. You who have a heart for
God, doesn't it just bless your soul to hear Christ bragged on
and lifted up? And I know why. It's not because
you came to church. It's because He's your hope.
He's your assurance. He's your peace. You're blessed
with all spiritual blessings in Christ. And I know that's
difficult for people to get in their mind. I know the natural
man, he can't receive it at all. It just doesn't make sense to
him. These things are spiritually discerned. But this obedience
is necessary not because we're made holier or more righteous
by our obedience. Our obedience in any area does
not make us righteous or holy. That's all Christ. This blessing of obedience now,
this obedience of Christ, it begins with God-given faith in
Christ and submission to him and his righteousness as the
only ground of our salvation. This obedience of Christ is not
the obedience of legalism. It's the obedience of grace and
love and faith and gratitude. And that's what he's saying.
The natural man cannot receive it, but in the hearts of God's
people, in the minds of God's people, It's a process of casting
down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against
the knowledge of God. All those high things that exalt
themselves against disobedience of Christ, the knowledge of God
in Him, that's our warfare, isn't it? And then this obedience is another.
Let me give you these five reasons. First of all, turn to Ephesians
chapter 2. Let's look at some scripture
and I'll give you this outline. It won't take too long. Ephesians
chapter 2. Why this obedience of Christ? His obedience for us and our
obedience to Him. It's necessary. His obedience
is necessary to save us. For the ground of our salvation.
To secure our salvation and all these blessings. Our obedience
is necessary for this reason. Number one, Because it's ordained
of God. That's number one. It is ordained
of God. Look at verse 8 of Ephesians
2. For by grace are you saved. Some say that should be translated
for by grace have you been saved. That's okay. Through faith. And that not of yourselves. Even
faith is not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. Not of
works. Lest any man should boast. For
we are his workmanship. That's a believer now, a sinner
saved by grace, whose workmanship are you? His. Not yours, not
the preacher's, not the church's, but God's. You're his workmanship. And how did he create you? He
created you in Christ Jesus. That's how God saves his people.
That's how he saves his church, in Christ Jesus. the glorious
person and the finished work of Christ, the blood of Christ,
the righteousness of Christ. That's how he did it. Christ
said, upon this rock I'll build my church. Who's the rock? Christ
is the rock and he's the builder. So he created in Christ Jesus
and look at it, unto good works, not because of good works, but
unto good works. That's the fruit, you see. Look
at it, which God hath before ordained, prepared, that's for
the nation, that we should walk in them. That's number one, why
they're necessary, because God ordained it. You see, if God ordained it,
you can write it down, it's necessary. And why? Because of his glory.
He ordained it. That's the purpose of God. He
didn't create us in Christ Jesus that we might continue to rebel
against him. He didn't create us in Christ
Jesus that we might continue to live like the world. He created
us in Christ Jesus that we might glorify and honor him. That doesn't
mean we're going to be perfect. That doesn't mean we're not going
to mess up royally sometimes. It just simply means that we're
going to be trophies of his grace in Christ. Here's the second
reason. Turn to Romans chapter 7. This obedience of Christ is necessary because it's the fruit of God's
power and God's grace in the lives of His people. It's the
fruit of faith. It's the fruit of grace. It's
the fruit of love. Look at Romans 7 and verse 4.
He says, wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the
law by the body of Christ. Now that's our justification
before God. Christ died as my substitute
and my surety. He was made under the law. Remember,
Galatians 4 says that. He was made of a woman. That's
his incarnation. He was made under the law to
redeem them that were under the law. Well, I'm dead to the law. In other words, the law cannot
condemn me. The law cannot require anything
of me in order to be saved or to be made righteous. The law
has no hold on me. I owe no debt to God's law. My
debt is paid in full. How did I get that way? By my
works? No. By my faith? No. By the body of Christ. I got
that way by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was made
sin. Christ who knew no sin for us
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He was made a
curse for us. That's how we were justified.
We're not guilty. Sin cannot be charged or imputed
to our account because Christ took our sins, took our debt
and His righteousness is imputed to me and I'm dead to the law. Wherefore, my brethren, you also
are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that, or
in order that, you should be married to another, joined to
Christ, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should
what? Bring forth fruit unto God. We're fruit bearers. We're not
fruit producers. Christ is the fruit producer.
He's the vine. We're the branches. We bear fruit. The fruit of faith, the fruit
of repentance, the fruit of love. That's what he's talking about.
Look at verse 5, he says, for when we were in the flesh, that's
unregenerate. Unbelievers. The motions or passions
of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring
forth fruit unto death. Now to understand that verse,
you have to understand how the natural, unregenerate man or
woman looks at the law. Okay? He's talking about how
the passions, the word motions there, that word motions is passions. Become passionate about something.
And he says, the passions of sins which were by the law. That's
a strange way of putting it, isn't it? What passions are stirred
up in the natural man, the unregenerate, unbelieving man or woman, by
the law of God? Well, it works in one of two
ways. It either works it out in a passion for utter rebellion. Let's say like the thief on the
cross. He was a thief. He had a passion to steal. The
law of God said don't steal. But his passion in rebellion
was stirred up to steal. And you could go a lot of different
examples of things, different things. Man's rebellion, all
right? Or it can show up in false religion. Look at the Jews. Look at Saul
of Tarsus. He had a passion too, didn't he? What was his passion? To keep the law in order to be
saved. And that's just as wicked and
deadly, even more so, I believe. because it is an open denial
of Christ. So look at it again now. For
when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were Bible,
did work in our members to bring forth what? Fruit unto death.
We know the thief, the murderer, He brings forth fruit unto death.
All sins deserving of death. But what about Saul of Tarsus?
He had a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. He was
religious. He was trying to be the cleanest,
most moral person he could be. What was he doing? Bringing forth
fruit unto death. He was working hard to be the
best he could be. But you see, any sinner Without
Christ, all he can do is bring forth fruit unto death. So he
says in verse six, but now we're delivered from the law. We're
dead to the law. Christ kept the law for us. Christ
paid my sin debt, that being dead wherein we were held, that
we should serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of
the letter. Oldness of the letter, that's
legalism. Newness of the spirit, that's grace. That's love. That's gratitude. So disobedience
is necessary because it's the fruit of God's power. God's grace. Here's the third thing. Turn
to Galatians chapter 2. Disobedience of Christ is necessary
because it's the work of the Holy Spirit within God's people. When God saves a sinner, The
Holy Spirit does a great, sovereign, powerful, invincible work in
the new birth, regeneration, and conversion, that invincible
calling, and the Holy Spirit imparts life, grace, and He Himself
comes to live within His people. We have the presence of the Spirit
within us. And this is the work of the Holy
Spirit within God's people. Look at Galatians 2 verse 19.
He says, for I through the law am dead to the law. Now that's
the same thing he said back in Romans 7. I'm dead to the law, not because
God disregarded his law. I through the law am dead to
the law. Now how'd that happen? Through
the death of Christ. God didn't disregard his law
in order to save a sinner. He sent Christ to keep the law
and to die under the penalty of the law. He honored his law
through Christ. Christ is the end of the law,
the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believes. So I threw the law, I'm dead to the law, that I might
what? Live under God for the glory of God. Verse 20, I'm crucified
with Christ. He's my substitute. He's my representative. He's my surety. When he died,
I died. When he was buried, I was buried. When he arose, I arose.
And he's my advocate. with the father, whoever lives
to make intercession for me. So I'm crucified with Christ,
nevertheless I live. I'm dead to the law, but I'm
living. Yet not I, I'm not the source
of that life. The life that I live is, I'm
not the source of it, I'm not the power of it, I'm not the
cause of it, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Christ lives in his people. Now
how does he do that? Well, the Bible teaches us by
his spirit and by his word. That's how he does it. And he
says, the life which I now live in the flesh, in this physical
body, I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and
gave himself for me. Now, what is my righteousness
before God? Look at verse 21. I do not frustrate
or make void the grace of God for if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead. Christ is still my righteousness.
The Holy Spirit indwells me, the word of God is written on
my heart, and I'm able to live under God, live for His glory,
as a sinner saved by grace, as an imperfect human being, with
all the infirmities and weaknesses of the flesh that I have to battle
every day, all of that. And yet, and yet, I still have
righteousness before God. And where is that? In Christ.
In Christ. So this is the work of Christ
within His people. Turn to Ezekiel. Go back to the
Old Testament. Ezekiel 36. Here is the fourth
reason. This obedience is necessary. Because it is a desire given
us by God Himself. The desire to be obedient. And
let me caution you on this too. The desire to be obedient to
Christ is not a feeling. It's not a feeling. You say,
well, if I don't feel good or feel this way or feel that way,
then I'm just not even gonna put up. No, no, no, no. It's not a feeling. You know,
you may feel great right now, but you know, it's very, I may
feel great today. But you know, it's very possible
that I have a little germ inside my body right now that's just
waiting to grow and kill me off the next few months. Isn't that
right? So that has nothing to do, but
now if I go to the doctor and he finds that germ, he's gonna
say, now you've got this germ. Well, doc, I feel great. Well,
there it is. Now what do I have? I have knowledge
that I didn't have before. And that's what this is, you
see. It's not how you feel, it's knowledge that God gives you
that you know and I know what's right and I know what's honoring
to Him. You ever told your children,
now you know better than that. You don't ever say to them, now
you feel better than that, do you? No, you say, you know better
than that. And that's the way this is. It's like I told you, when somebody
criticizes me or lies on me, I don't feel good about it. I don't feel like doing them
good, but I know I've got some knowledge I didn't have before. I know what's right. I know what
I should do. I know what's honoring to Christ.
And I'm trying, I'm warring after the Spirit to bring these thoughts
and these imaginations into the obedience of Christ. And look
here, it's a This knowledge, this obedience is a desire given
us by God through knowledge. Look at verse 25 of Ezekiel 36. He says, then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you. Now he's talking about the new
covenant here. Ezekiel 36, 25. He says, I'll sprinkle clean
water upon you. You shall be clean from all your
filthiness, from all your idols. Will I cleanse you? That's the
cleansing by the blood of Christ. And it has to do not only with
His He is dying for us, but the application of His blood to our
hearts, our minds, affections, and will. And look at verse 26. He says, a new heart also will
I give you. A new heart. What is that? That's the regenerate heart.
That's the mind, the affections, and the will cleansed by the
blood of Christ. That's the conscience cleansed.
It's the circumcised heart. Remember Paul talked about that
in Romans 2? A heart circumcised. Philippians 3, he said, we're
the circumcision. That's what he's talking about.
Spiritual circumcision. A new heart. New desires that
you didn't have. New knowledge. I told the Sunday
school class, I'm getting a series of messages on things like this.
I'm going to call it, what's new? He puts a new song in your
heart. What is the song? Worthy is the
lamb that was slain. All right. You have new motives. Whereas once you served in oldness
of the letter, legalism, trying to earn God's favor, trying to
earn your way, trying to earn your... Now, it's the motive
of love and grace and gratitude. That's the new heart. A new goal. What's your goal now? To glorify
Christ. To be made like Him. He says
a new spirit. That has to do with those motivations
and those goals and what drives us. He said, I'll put within
you And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh.
In other words, that heart's made new, it's circumcised now.
And I'll give you a heart of flesh, submissive, meek, blessed
are the meek, poor in spirit, all of that. He said in verse
27, I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in
my statutes. That doesn't mean we're going
to be perfect people, keeping the law in every way. No, sir.
We're sinners saved by grace, but we'll follow Christ. We'll look to Him as the author
and finisher of our faith. And you shall keep my judgments
and do them. It's a desire given us by God.
And then lastly, turn to Romans 6. The fifth reason this obedience
is necessary is because it's part and parcel
of the liberty that we have in Christ. You see, the liberty
of a true believer in Christ is not liberty to disobey. It's liberty to serve. Over in
Romans 6 and verse 7, listen to this. He says, for he that
is dead is freed from sin. That word freed there is justified. That means we're free from condemnation.
Think about that. In Christ, we cannot be condemned. In Christ, we've already been
judged for all our sins. That's right. That's right. Christ took our sins and put
them away. God said, I'll remember them
no more. That means he's not going to charge us with it. What
does Romans 8 tell us? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. In Christ,
I have a righteousness that answers the demands of God's justice.
And it cannot be taken away like Adam's was. Because it's not
the righteousness of man, it's the righteousness of God. It
cannot be defiled. It cannot be corrupted. We didn't
have anything to do with it. As far as making it, it was all
Christ. That's what that's saying. But now look down at verse 17
of Romans 6. He says, But God bethanked that
you were the servants of sin. That is, you were unregenerate. But you have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. That's regeneration
and conversion. That's the invincible calling
of the Holy Spirit. That's a spiritually dead sinner
being given spiritual life by the Spirit. You obeyed that form
of doctrine. That's the gospel. Wherein Christ
is revealed. And look at verse 18. Being then
made free. That's liberated from sin. you became the servants of righteousness,
servants of Christ. You see, that's the liberty we
have. Now we can serve God. We couldn't before. Maybe we
thought, we probably thought we were. I know in false religion,
I thought I was serving God. You remember, Paul said that
in Philippians chapter three, when he spoke of his former life
and his repentance from that, he said, I was persecuting the
church. Why did Paul persecute the church?
He thought he was doing the service of God. He wasn't serving God. He was serving Satan. He was
serving self. But then he saw the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. And now he's free. Free to serve
in newness of spirit. That's part of our liberty. All
right.