{"id":19107,"date":"2016-05-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/soteriology-016\/"},"modified":"2016-05-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-04T05:00:00","slug":"soteriology-016","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/soteriology-016\/","title":{"rendered":"Soteriology 016"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[94],"series_event":[459],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19107","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-ephesians","series_event-soteriology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Soteriology 016","sermon_date":"20160504","sermon_month":"5","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":3600,"sermon_slides":3599,"sermon_mp3":3601,"sermon_id":"54162110271","series_or_event":459,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":94,"chapter_and_verse":"2:8-10","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSoteriology 16, Ephesians 2:8-10\n\nMay 4, 2016\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to the book of Ephesians, chapter 2 and verse 10 as we continue our study in the doctrine of salvation.\u00a0 Just to let you know what\u2019s going on this class will meet tonight, obviously, and then the next two Wednesdays and the last Wednesday in the month we are not meeting as a class but we\u2019re having a children\u2019s presentation.\u00a0 Which, by the way, is very good, it\u2019s very encouraging to look at what these kids have done during\u00a0 the year.\u00a0 It makes you realize, when they start doing their memory verses and things, that we\u2019re doing more than just being a baby sitting service here.\u00a0 So it\u2019s always encouraging to come to that, so I would encourage you to come to that as well, it\u2019s the last Wednesday of the month.\n\nAnd the way I have it timed is we\u2019re going to be getting into the doctrine of the security of the believer starting in June in which class the class won\u2019t meet Wednesdays during the summer but we\u2019ll meet in Sunday School, during the Sunday School hour in the sanctuary.\u00a0 So that\u2019s kind of a preview of things to come.\n\nWe are here in Roman numeral VI talking about the results of salvation.\u00a0 Once you gain salvation by faith alone what exactly do we have?\u00a0 And this is the section where we learn of our riches in Christ.\u00a0 Dr. Chafer articulated 33 blessings that we have as New Testament Christians.\u00a0 We\u2019re not going to go through all 33, we\u2019re just drilling down of a few of them.\u00a0 And we\u2019re drilling down on the ones that probably need more explanation than others.\u00a0 But we have adoption, eternal life, regeneration, justification, and we also have the forgiveness of all pre-cross sins.\u00a0 So what we\u2019re taking a look at here is good works and if we have time we\u2019ll get into sanctification and glorification.\n\nSo another item that we have as New Testament Christians is we have, what I like to call the capacity for good works.\u00a0\u00a0 Take a look at Ephesians 2:10.\u00a0 Verses 8 and 9 describe how we\u2019re saved, by faith alone.\u00a0 [Ephesians 2:8, \u201cFor by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, [9] not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.\u201d]\n\nVerse 10 says, \u201cFor we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.\u201d\u00a0 So it\u2019s interesting, we are not saved by good works, verses 8 and 9, but we are saved unto good works.\u00a0 So we have the ability as New Testament Christians to do works that are glorifying to God.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll find this in Ephesians, many other places.\u00a0 You might just want to take a quick look at James 2 for a minute.\u00a0 James 2:18, \u201cBut someone may well say, \u2018You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 And then going down to verse 26 it says, \u201cFor just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cDead\u201d is very, very misinterpreted today.\u00a0 Most people, when they look at the word \u201cdead\u201d they think it means non-existence because that\u2019s the 21st<\/sup> century use of the term; when we think of dead we think of non-existence.\n\nBut what you\u2019ll discover in the Bible is death never means non-existence, because when I die, when you die, when every person on planet earth dies are they going to still exist somewhere?\u00a0 Sure, heaven or hell.\u00a0 So faith without works is dead is not saying boy if I don\u2019t have enough works I guess my faith doesn\u2019t exist;\u00a0 99% of the teaching you get on that chapter will tell you that, but that\u2019s inconsistent with the biblical definition of death. \u00a0What it actually is saying is if I don\u2019t have works as a Christian then my faith is useless, non-productive.\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, I\u2019ve got my fire insurance paid up and I\u2019m going to heaven but God is not using me to advance His purposes on the earth.\u00a0 That\u2019s what is meant by \u201cfaith without works is dead.\u201d\n\nSo one of the blessings that we have as New Testament Christians is we have the capacity for good works.\u00a0 We have the capacity to do good works which are pleasing to God.\u00a0 And sort of the way we like to communicate this\u2026 and before I even get to that, there\u2019s something else we have the capacity to do; it\u2019s to overcome habitual sin patterns in our lives.\u00a0 That\u2019s part of the many, many good works we can do, we have the ability to tell sin NO!\n\nSo let me take you to some verses on that, and a lot of these are misunderstood as well.\u00a0 These are sometimes called the household codes.\u00a0\u00a0 Take a look at Galatians 5:19-21,\u00a0 you probably have heard some of these verses quoted in isolation of the rest of the book.\u00a0 It says, \u201cNow the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, \u00a0[20] \u00a0idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, [21] envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d\n\nSo people look at that verse and they say oh my gosh, if I have these habits in my life I guess (A) I lost my salvation, (Arminianism), (B)\u00a0 I never had salvation (Calvinism) or if they go into a rewards theology, which we hold to here, they will interpret the word \u201cinherit\u201d as if these patterns in my life I guess I will not inherit, which they interpret as a reward, I guess I will not be rewarded in the millennial kingdom.\n\nSo some people teach from this that some believers will make it into the millennial kingdom and some will not.\u00a0 And this is called outer darkness theology which to me is like a Protestant purgatory, if I can put it that way.\u00a0 There\u2019s a whole view out there and you get it from older commentators like Guzik and it\u2019s kind of making a comeback today in some of our circles that if you don\u2019t have good works then,\u00a0 you know,\u00a0 you might not go to hell but you don\u2019t inherit the millennial kingdom, you\u2019ll go into this kind of outer darkness belief.\n\nSo you see how these verses are misinterpreted by a lot of different people.\u00a0 Boy, if I\u2019ve got all these habits in my life, (A) I lost my salvation, Arminianism; I guess I never had my salvation, Hyper-Calvinism, or I guess I\u2019m not going to make it into the millennium, the kingdom, outer darkness theology.\u00a0 And the whole problem here is remedied when\u00a0 you start looking at the change of pronouns.\u00a0 If you go back to verse 16 he says,] \u201cBut I say walk by the Spirit and\u201d what? \u201cyou will not carry out the lusts of the flesh.\u201d [Galatians 5:16] \u00a0So when he says \u201cyou\u201d he\u2019s using the second person plural pronoun \u201cyou.\u201d\n\nNow you start moving into this household code about morality and you go down to verse 21, he says, \u201cI warn you, just as I have forewarned you, that\u2026\u201d does he say \u201cyou?\u201d\u00a0 NO, he says, \u201cthose,\u201d see how he just switched the pronoun, he went from \u201cyou\u201d to \u201cthose,\u201d \u201cthose who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d\u00a0 So given that switch in pronoun from \u201cyou\u201d to \u201cthose\u201d I don\u2019t think Paul is saying to believers\u00a0 you never had salvation, or you lost salvation, or you\u2019re not going to make it into the millennium.\u00a0 I think what he\u2019s saying is don\u2019t imitate unbelievers.\u00a0 That\u2019s the \u201cthose\u201d;\u00a0 \u201cyou\u201d verse 16, don\u2019t imitate unbelievers because why in the world would you imitate unbelievers; they\u2019re not going to heaven, they\u2019re not going to be in the kingdom so why would\u00a0 you imitate them?\u00a0 In other words, his only point is let your behavior be characterized by your new identity, don\u2019t imitate those who aren\u2019t going to heaven anyway, they are a totally different identity than you.\u00a0 So it\u2019s not an issue where he\u2019s calling into question your millennial citizenship; he\u2019s not calling into question your salvation, whether you have it or not if some of these sins are in your life.\u00a0 What he\u2019s saying is you\u2019re imitating unbelievers, which is outside of your\u00a0 identity.\n\nLet me give you another one; take a look at 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, this is another one of these household codes.\u00a0 And the reason I\u2019m going over these is because part of our good works is the ability under God\u2019s Spirit to not have these sinful habits in our lives any more.\u00a0 Take a look at\n\n1 Corinthians 6 and notice verses 9 and 10, the same kind of teaching.\u00a0 \u201cOr do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? \u00a0Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, [10] nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d\u00a0 So again your average Christian looks at that and says wow, if these sins characterize my life then I guess I never had salvation, because it says those that live like this won\u2019t inherit the kingdom of God.\u00a0 Or maybe I lost my salvation, or maybe I\u2019m going to move off into outer darkness, I\u2019m not going to inherit the millennial kingdom.\n\nBut again the whole problem is rectified when you watch the switch in pronouns.\u00a0 If you back up to chapter 6, verse 1, what does he say there?\u00a0 \u201cDoes any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous,\u201d taking the saints \u201cbefore the unrighteous\u201d.\u00a0 Now who are \u201cthe unrighteousness\u201d?\u00a0 If you drop down to verse 6 it tells you who the unrighteous are; \u201cbut brother goes to law with brother,\u201d see, the unrighteous in this context are these judges.\u00a0 Paul says why are you, as Christians, fighting with each other to the point where it has to be appealed to an unbelieving judge; don\u2019t you know you\u2019re destroying the witness of Christianity before this unbelieving judge.\u00a0\u00a0 And he calls the unbelieving judges \u201cunrighteous.\u201d\u00a0 Now you drop down to verse 6 and he says, \u201cbut brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?\u201d\u00a0 see that?\u00a0 So right there in the passage when you connect verse 1 to verse 6, the unrighteous are who?\u00a0 Unbelievers.\u00a0 Are you with me?\n\nNow from there go down to verse 9.\u00a0 See, this is the problem, most people will quote these verses but they won\u2019t let the chapter define who the unrighteous and the unbelievers are.\u00a0 So then when he say, \u201cOr do you not know that the unrighteous,\u201d now who are the unrighteous?\u00a0 The unrighteous have already been defined for us back in verse 1, they\u2019re these unbelieving judges; verse 6 told us these unrighteous are unbelieving judges.\u00a0 So don\u2019t change the meaning of who the unrighteous are.\u00a0 \u201cOr do you not know that the unrighteousness will not inherit the kingdom of God?\u00a0 Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, [10] nor thieves, not the covetous, nor drunkards \u2026will inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d\n\nSo this is not saying if these sins are in my life I lost my salvation or never had my salvation, or I guess if I\u2019m not going to inherit the kingdom of God I\u2019m going to, as a believer, be assigned into outer darkness, the Protestant purgatory.\u00a0 The only point that he\u2019s making is don\u2019t imitate the unbelievers.\u00a0 See, he\u2019s not getting into a whole discussion about your security.\u00a0 Don\u2019t imitate unbelievers because these unbelievers have a totally different identity than you do.\u00a0 So why would I pattern my life after what the unbelievers are doing?\u00a0 That\u2019s inconsistent with who I am.\u00a0 That\u2019s inconsistent with my new identity in Christ.\u00a0 So when I go back into sin, which I have the ability to do, I\u2019m living outside of my identity.\u00a0 That\u2019s Paul\u2019s point.\n\nLet me show you another one, look at Ephesians 5:5, another so-called household code.\u00a0 Ephesians 5:5, \u201cFor this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of\u00a0 Christ and God.\u201d\u00a0 So again, if that verse is quoted to you out of context what you\u2019ll think is wow, I actually sometimes can go back into the sins as a Christian.\u00a0\u00a0 So if I\u2019m of the Arminian persuasion, if I\u2019ve got my Arminian glasses on. Arminianism believes you can lose your salvation.\u00a0 They interpret not inherit the kingdom of God as a loss of salvation.\u00a0 If I put my Calvinist glasses on, Calvinism with its perseverance of the saints basically teaches that all Christians must bear fruit to prove that they\u2019re saved, if I put my Calvinist glasses on I\u2019ll think wow, if these sins show up in my life I guess I never was saved to begin with, I guess I\u2019m not one of the elect.\n\nSee, Calvinism and Arminianism, if you follow them through logically both put you in a state of insecurity.\u00a0 Calvinism makes you feel like you never were saved to begin with so I guess I\u2019d better get saved again.\u00a0 And Arminianism makes you feel like you lost your salvation.\u00a0 Now if\u00a0 you\u2019re not a Calvinist or Arminian but you move off into a very strong rewards concept you will interpret \u201cinherit the kingdom of God\u201d as entering the millennium.\u00a0 So if these sins are characterized in\u00a0 my life I guess I\u2019m really not going into the millennium right away, I\u2019m going off into an outer darkness or a Protestant purgatory.\n\nYou see, you don\u2019t have to interpret these verses in the manner that I just described when you look at the switch in pronouns.\u00a0 Go back to Ephesians 5:1, \u201cTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; [2] and walk in love, just as Christ also loved\u201d who? \u201cyou\u201d that is the second person plural pronoun \u201cyou.\u201d\u00a0 Now look at what he says in verse 5, \u201cFor this\u00a0 you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure\u201d what? \u201cperson.\u201d\u00a0 See how he did the switcheroo there?\u00a0 He went from \u201cyou\u201d to \u201cperson\u201d and that\u2019s what is happening in all these household codes.\n\nSo what is Paul\u2019s only point?\u00a0 It\u2019s not to second guess whether you were saved; it\u2019s not to say maybe you\u2019re going to lose your salvation.\u00a0 It\u2019s not saying you are going to go off into outer darkness.\u00a0 What it\u2019s saying is why in the world would\u00a0 you, as a\u00a0 blood-bought child of God imitate unbelievers because when you go back into sin you\u2019re imitating unbelievers, which we have the ability to do as Christians, and consequently you\u2019re living outside of who you are, your identity.\n\nTake a look if you could at Revelation\u00a0 21:8, this is another one of these moral so-called household codes.\u00a0 Revelation 21:8 which says, \u201cBut the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake of fire \u2026 which is the second death.\u201d\u00a0 Now here there\u2019s no question that you\u2019re dealing with unbelievers.\u00a0 Right, because it\u2019s talking about folks in the lake of fire in the second death.\u00a0 But you\u2019ll notice that he is rehearsing all of the sins that we just read there in Galatians 5, 1 Corinthians 6 and Ephesians 5, which helps the argument that I\u2019m making that Paul in all of these passages is talking about unbelievers, not imitating unbelievers.\n\nAnd then take a look at Revelation 22:15, it says, \u201cOutside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.\u201d\u00a0 Now people look at that and say \u201coutside are\u201d these people; well, maybe I lost my salvation, maybe I never had my salvation.\u00a0 If you move off into this hyper rewards theology what they\u2019ll tell you is some believers are outside the eternal city, the New Jerusalem, some are inside and they\u2019ll say look, right there it talks about those outside.\u00a0 But notice the sins here\u2014\u201csorcerers,\u201d didn\u2019t we just read about them in verse 8, \u201cimmoral persons,\u201d didn\u2019t we just read about them in verse 8; \u201cmurderers, didn\u2019t we just read about them in verse 8 of chapter 21; \u201cidolaters\u201d didn\u2019t we just read about them in verse 8?\u00a0 So when we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture we very clearly see he\u2019s dealing with unbelievers.\n\nAnd the reason this is included in information to a believer is simply to demonstrate to us that when we wander back into the sin nature we\u2019re living again just like an unbeliever which is something we shouldn\u2019t want to do because it\u2019s inconsistent with who we are, it\u2019s inconsistent with our identity, it\u2019s inconsistent with our calling.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why he keeps bringing these things up.\n\nYou\u2019ll hear a lot of different teaching on these household codes and I\u2019m trying to give you what I think is the correct view on it.\u00a0 His only point is don\u2019t imitate unbelievers.\u00a0 He\u2019s not threatening them with a loss of salvation or maybe they never had salvation, or maybe they\u2019re not going to get into the millennium, maybe they\u2019re going to be outside the city gates in the New Jerusalem.\u00a0 That\u2019s really not his point; his point is a much simpler point: when you live like this you imitate these unbelievers and why would you want to do that?\u00a0 They have a totally different destiny than you do.\u00a0 You\u2019re living beneath your identity is what he\u2019s saying; you\u2019re living beneath your privileges.\n\nSo as New Testament Christians we have the capacity for, number 1, good works; we have the capacity, number 2, for overcoming habitual sin patterns that characterize our lives.\u00a0 And we ought to have an incentive to avoid habitual sin patterns that can characterize our lives at times, not because of some fear about my security, loss of salvation, never had salvation, not getting into the millennium, but it\u2019s just out of touch, out of sorts with my new identity in Christ.\n\nNow one of the ways that we teach this is that good works are desirable in the Christian.\u00a0 They are not automatic.\u00a0 If you were taking this class from a very strong Calvinist or Arminian they would basically say this: if you don\u2019t have good works then you\u2019re not saved because the \u201cP\u201d (Perseverance of the saints) in Calvinism is you must persevere in good works and so if you don\u2019t have any good works maybe you were never a Christian at all.\u00a0 So what they say is all believers do good works.\u00a0 If you\u2019re claiming to be a believer but there\u2019s not enough fruit or there\u2019s not enough good works then simply put, you\u2019re not a believer.\n\nNow what does that do?\u00a0 That puts you in a state of fear your whole life because nobody defines how many good works I have to do to prove I\u2019m a believer.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 I mean, how many do I have to do?\u00a0 How many old ladies do I have to help across the street?\u00a0 How many people do I have to evangelize this week?\u00a0 Five people?\u00a0 What if I only do four?\u00a0 Or three?\u00a0 What if I miss Wednesday night Bible study?\u00a0 And so people live their whole lives wondering, gosh, am I really one of the elect or not.\u00a0 And it comes from this idea that all believers must do good works to prove they\u2019re a believer.\u00a0 And may I just say to you that I do not believe that\u2019s what the Bible is teaching.\n\nLet me show you what I mean; go to John 15 for just a minute.\u00a0 John 15, which is the Upper Room Discourse because it was given where?\u00a0 In the Upper Room.\u00a0 Now in this Upper Room Discourse Jesus starts talking about a vine and a branch.\u00a0 He talks about a branch connected to a vine that bears fruit.\u00a0 He talks about a branch disconnected to a vine that does not bear fruit.\u00a0 And people come into this passage, and I would encourage you to get our sermon teachings that we\u2019ve done as we were going through John\u2019s Gospel, we did a lot of in depth teaching on John 15, and you can get all that on our website.\u00a0 But what people do is they read a doctrine into John 15 that well, the branches that bear fruit are Christians; the branches that don\u2019t bear fruit are not Christians.\u00a0 And that\u2019s pretty much the standard teaching that you get.\n\nLet me tell you why that doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0 Number 1, who is Jesus addressing?\u00a0 The disciples.\u00a0 Now He\u2019s not even addressing twelve disciples here, He\u2019s addressing eleven disciples because Judas, the only unbeliever in the group has left the building, or the room, back in John 13.\u00a0 So when Jesus makes this statement here to drag into it all of this teaching about whether\u00a0 you\u2019re saved or not, that\u2019s not even His point because He\u2019s talking or conversing with people, eleven people that are clearly saved.\u00a0 So what is He talking about here, the branch disconnected to the vine?\u00a0 That\u2019s not an unbeliever, that\u2019s an out of fellowship believer.\u00a0 John, who wrote these words, was one of\u00a0 those who heard Christ teach this and did a whole expanded book about it in the New Testament called\n\n1 John.\u00a0 1 John is not a test, it poses various tests in the book but these are not tests to determine if\u00a0 you\u2019re a Christian or not; these are tests to determine if you\u2019re walking in fellowship with God or not, because unconfessed sin, what can that do to our fellowship with God?\u00a0 Damage it.\n\nJust like in your marriage, you can sin against your spouse by cruel words or anger or sarcasm or any number of things, that doesn\u2019t make you unmarried at that point.\u00a0 What has happened is the fellowship between the two of you has been broken.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s the whole subject of 1 John.\u00a0 This is the whole subject matter that Jesus is getting into here in John 15; the branch outside of the vine not bearing fruit is an out of fellowship believer.\u00a0 The branch inside the vine bearing fruit is an in fellowship believer.\u00a0 Do you follow that?\n\nSo having said all that, take a look at what he says, verse 8; it\u2019s very clear, \u201cMy Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove yourselves to be My\u201d what? \u201cdisciples.\u201d\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t say you must bear fruit to prove you are believers, does he?\u00a0 Does Jesus not use the word \u201cbelieve\u201d all the way through this book; I think it\u2019s recorded about 100 times, I\u2019m not sure if all of those references are Christ\u2019s words but John uses the word believe and believer constantly.\u00a0 But here he doesn\u2019t say believer, he says \u201cdisciples.\u201d\u00a0 The good works don\u2019t prove you\u2019re a believer; the good works prove you\u2019re a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nAnd you say well, what\u2019s the difference?\u00a0 Plenty.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a chart we\u2019ve gone through before; being a believer is on the left side of the screen, being a disciple is on the right side of the screen.\u00a0 All disciples are believers but not all believers are necessarily disciples.\u00a0 So being a believer we call the first tense of salvation which is justification.\u00a0 Being a disciple we call the second tense of salvation which is progressive sanctification.\u00a0 Being a believer is a free gift, however, if you enter into discipleship that\u2019s going to cost you something.\u00a0 The Lord is always going to put His finger on something in your life and say this needs to go.\u00a0 Experience has told me that when I have to give up something the Lord replaces it with something better.\u00a0 But every time you enter into discipleship with the Lord there\u2019s always some kind of cost that has to be borne.\n\nBeing a believer is received through faith.\u00a0 Being in discipleship is entered into through commitment and obedience.\u00a0 However, isn\u2019t it great that God provides the resources for our commitment and obedience.\u00a0 If we walk according to the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.\u00a0 [Galatians 5:16, \u201cThis<\/em> I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.\u201d KJV]\u00a0 So I don\u2019t want to make it sound like discipleship is some kind of thing that we white-knuckle and we do through human power.\u00a0 That\u2019s not right either.\n\nBeing a believer is not by works; being a disciple isn\u2019t going to involve greater degrees of cooperation with God. \u00a0\u00a0There\u2019s more commands to obey other than believe the gospel and be saved.\u00a0 \u201cStudy and show thyself approved,\u201d \u201cforsake not the assembling of yourselves together,\u201d \u201cdo not let sin reign in your mortal body.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0[2 Timothy 2:15, \u201cStudy to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.\u201d KJV.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cNot forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.\u201d Hebrews 10:25.\u00a0 \u201cTherefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,\u201d Romans 6:12.]\n\nThink of all of the commands that were given to New Testament Christians and when you make a decision to start volitionally cooperating with God in these commands and say Lord, I don\u2019t know how You\u2019re going to do this but You\u2019re going to strengthen me as You promised; you\u2019re not a believer only, you\u2019ve been entered into the ranks of discipleship.\u00a0 Being a believer is an instant process, you trust in the gospel for salvation, instantaneously you\u2019re made right with God.\u00a0 Being a disciple is a lifelong process.\u00a0 We make strides in it some days and other days we don\u2019t.\u00a0 But it\u2019s a lifelong thing, it goes on.\n\nBeing a believer is what we call justification; being a disciple is what we call sanctification.\u00a0 In justification Jesus paid the price but in discipleship we pay some kind of price.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus makes all those statements to the disciples, in the Gospels rather; Lord, I don\u2019t want to follow You, I want to bury my parents.\u00a0 What does Jesus say?\u00a0 \u201cLet the dead bury the dead. \u201c\u00a0 [Matthew 8:22]\n\nHe\u2019s not inviting that person to trust in Christ to be saved; He\u2019s inviting that person who has already a believer into a deeper walk with Himself.\u00a0 You have to give up something, we can\u2019t place things above the Lord as we enter into the ranks of discipleship.\n\nBeing a believer you trust Jesus as your Savior; being a disciple you follow Jesus as Lord.\u00a0 That\u2019s where you put your Lordship; you don\u2019t put your Lordship in justification, you put your Lordship in discipleship and sanctification. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Being a believer you believe the gospel; being a disciple you start obeying God\u2019s commands through His power.\u00a0 Being a believer is one condition, faith alone; becoming a disciple, think of all of the commands we have to start submitting to under His power.\u00a0 Ephesians 4-6 by itself has about 38 commands for us to follow.\u00a0 Being a believer is one condition; discipleship multiple conditions.\u00a0 Being a believer experienced by all Christians; being a disciple experienced by some Christians.\u00a0 Being a believer gives you eternal life; a wonderful gift.\n\nAnd I hear this all the time from my students when I start talking this way, they say well, if I\u2019m saved and I\u2019m going to heaven why should I be a disciple?\u00a0 And the answer is discipleship results in a lot of further blessings, such as fulfillment, such as rewards, there is a doctrine of rewards where we all will stand before the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ; \u201call\u201d means all!\u00a0 And we will either be given rewards or not given rewards based upon our cooperation with the Holy Spirit in discipleship.\n\nBecoming a disciple results in greater authority in the kingdom.\u00a0 See, we\u2019re all going to be in the kingdom as Christians, but Luke 19:19, Jesus says one guy will rule over five cities.\u00a0 [Luke 19:19, \u201cAnd he said to him also, \u2018And you are to be over five cities.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 You go down to Luke 19:17 he says rule over ten cities.\u00a0 [Luke 19:17, \u201cAnd he said to him, \u2018Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 Now in this kind of communist economy that we\u2019re apparently moving into I thought everything was supposed to be equal, I mean, why doesn\u2019t Jesus say each of you will rule over five cities.\u00a0 Why does He give one guy five cities and one guy ten cities?\u00a0 The answer is the latter guy in life, in his earthly life went further with the Lord in discipleship than the guy that\u2019s ruling over five cities, or the guy that\u2019s in the millennial kingdom that\u2019s not ruling over anything.\n\nSo what I\u2019m trying to get at is the choices that we\u2019re making now as Christians, you know we have this \u201conce saved always saved\u201d view which is, I believe, accurate, and I\u2019ll show you that it\u2019s accurate when we get into the subject of eternal security, but because we believe in eternal security we think the decisions we\u2019re making now as Christians don\u2019t matter.\u00a0 And I\u2019m saying they do matter in terms of authority and in terms of reward.\u00a0\u00a0 They don\u2019t matter in terms of your security eternally but there are other things that are being decided in terms of your future based on our cooperation with God in discipleship.\n\nSo what do we then teach about good works?\u00a0 We do not teach that they are automatic; we teach that they are desirable.\u00a0 That\u2019s what God wants.\u00a0 We do not teach that they are the evidence of being a believer; that is to misstate the Bible.\u00a0 We teach that they are evidence of being a disciple.\u00a0 John 15:8. [\u201cMy Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.\u201d]\n\nAnd this also even covers the issue of habitual sin.\u00a0 Take a look at 1 Corinthians 3:1-3.\n\n[1 Corinthians 3:1, \u201cAnd I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. [2] I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it.<\/em> Indeed, even now you are not yet able, [3] for you are still fleshly.\u00a0 For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?\u201d]\n\nI mean, is it really possible for a Christian to continue on in sin and still be a Christian?\u00a0 I would say yes because Paul says to Christians in Romans 6, \u201cDo not let sin reign in your mortal body.\u201d\u00a0 Would that command make any sense unless the Christian had the ability to let sin reign in their mortal body?\u00a0 I mean, if me being a Christian means I automatically overcome sin what\u2019s that command in Romans 6 doing there?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u00a0 So this is a verse that I like to use to show that a Christian can let sin reign in their mortal bodies.\n\nPaul writes, \u201cAnd I\u201d what? \u201cbrethren,\u201d who are Christ\u2019s brothers?\u00a0 Believers, and Paul\u2019s brothers, believers.\u00a0 \u201cI could not speak to you as spiritual people but as to carnal,\u201d carnal means flesh or meat, devoted to the sin nature in other words, \u201c as unto babes in\u201d what? \u201cin Christ.\u201d\u00a0 You can be a babe in Christ, you can be carnal in Christ.\u00a0 See that? \u00a0\u201cI fed\u00a0 you with milk but not solid food; for until now you were not yet able to receive it, even now you are still not\u00a0 able,\u201d see where he says \u201cstill not able,\u201d they had been in this state of carnality for a long time, \u201cfor you are still carnal,\u201d how do we know they\u2019re carnal?\u00a0 Because there\u2019s envy, divisions among\u00a0 you, and look at this, \u201care you not behaving like mere men?\u201d\u00a0 Who\u2019s the \u201cmere men\u201d?\u00a0 The unbelievers.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where\u00a0 you put 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.\u00a0 You\u2019re acting just like the unbelievers; why are you acting that way?\u00a0 That\u2019s not who you are, that\u2019s not your position.\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 6:9-10, \u201cOr do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, [10] nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d]\n\nAn out of fellowship Christian can out sin an unbeliever many times.\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t believe me just read the life of David.\u00a0 Is there any doubt that David, the second king of the United Kingdom was a believer? I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any doubt at all but there was a season in his life, through first of all his murder, first of all his adultery secondly his murder, and then his lying to cover everything up.\u00a0 There was a season in that guy\u2019s life where you would be hard-pressed to look at that guy\u2019s life and say you know, that guy is really a child of God.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t acting like a child of God at all.\u00a0 And\u00a0 yet his eternity was never jeopardized.\u00a0 There were lots of temporal problems that plagued David till his dying day because of his bad decisions, like warfare within his own house, Nathan the prophet said the sword is never going to depart from your house, and things of that nature.\u00a0 But there\u2019s no question that David is a believer.\u00a0 See?\n\nAnd so Paul divides up the world into two halves, unbelievers, that\u2019s the natural man, and then on the right side of the screen there is believers.\u00a0 And most people in their thinking in Christianity today they just look at it as those two: believers, unbelievers, that\u2019s all that matters.\u00a0 You\u2019re a saint or you\u2019re an ain\u2019t is what people say.\u00a0\u00a0 And when you start studying Paul what you\u2019re going to see is Paul is far more sophisticated than the simplistic dualism of saved\/unsaved.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean to minimize the distinction between saved and unsaved because that\u2019s the difference between heaven and hell.\u00a0 But what I\u2019m telling you is Paul, in these verses, is carving out categories of believers.\u00a0 There\u2019s the spiritual believer, those are the disciples.\u00a0 There\u2019s the infants and that would be immature, immaturity.\u00a0 And then carnality, carnal believers, believers that keep on wandering back to the sin nature.\u00a0 So what am I trying to say?\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to say overcome habitual sin, overcoming habitual sin, just like good works, is desirable, but not automatic.\n\nAnd if there was some Reformed theologian that was listening to me talk they would be convulsing in anger by now because what I\u2019m saying is the exact opposite of Reformed theology, because of the perseverance of the saints and faith is a gift.\u00a0 God gives you faith, God can\u2019t fail so if you\u2019re a true child of God there ought to be fruit, there ought to be overcoming habitual sin and if those things aren\u2019t happening you\u2019re not saved at all.\u00a0 That\u2019s the heavy Reformed theology diet that most people get day in and day out on so-called Christian printed page, media and so forth.\u00a0 The issue is is that biblical thinking?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it\u2019s biblical thinking because Paul\u2019s got three categories here of believers.\n\nNow we describe carnal Christianity as an unfortunate possibility.\u00a0 And that\u2019s very important to understand because a lot of people, when they hear me talk like this they\u2019ll say oh, well, you think sin in the believer\u2019s life is okay, you think sin in the believer\u2019s life is a good thing, you think sin in the believer\u2019s life is not a severe thing in God\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 And I hope you don\u2019t misunderstand me, I\u2019m NOT saying that at all.\u00a0 What I\u2019m saying is it\u2019s possible, there\u2019s a category for it.\u00a0 It\u2019s an unfortunate possibility but it\u2019s a possibility nonetheless.\u00a0 In Reformed theology the possibility doesn\u2019t even exist.\n\nSo just a few verses that talk about the unfortunate possibility of the carnal Christian.\u00a0 Exodus 19:1, they had just come out of\u2026 the nation of Israel was in Goshen for 400 years; they are redeemed at the Passover, they exercised faith to put the blood on the doorpost, they passed through the Red Sea.\u00a0 Were these people in faith.\u00a0 Yes, it says at the end of Exodus 14, after God closed the Red Sea and drowned the Egyptians, it says, \u201cthey believed in the LORD.\u201d\u00a0 Now that\u2019s the same Hebrew construction you find in Genesis 15:6, \u201cAbraham believed God and it was credited to him unto righteousness.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s just a little different because the subject is changed from singular to plural but it\u2019s the same grammatical structure in the Hebrew.\u00a0 And nobody doubts Abraham was saved in Genesis 15:6 so why should we doubt that these people were saved?\n\nBut you see, what is happening is they are moving from Goshen, once they got to the other side of the Red Sea to Mount Sinai.\u00a0 And what do they receive at Mount Sinai?\u00a0 The Law.\u00a0 The Law was not given to them to save them; do you follow?\u00a0 They were already saved.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 I\u2019m just looking at the chronology here.\u00a0 And the reason I pointed out Exodus 19:1 is it gives you a timeline and it says, \u201cIn the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day they came to the wilderness of Sinai.\u201d\u00a0 So the trip from Goshen to Sinai is two months.\n\nNow what are these people doing for two months?\u00a0 Are they living for God.\u00a0 No, it\u2019s like taking\u00a0 your kids on vacation, you\u2019re out of the driveway and what are they saying?\u00a0 Are we there yet, I\u2019m hungry, I\u2019m tired, I want to go home, Joey in the back hit me.\u00a0 Sometimes you need another vacation to recover from your family vacation.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the children of Israel are doing for two months.\u00a0 Every crisis that comes up they are doubting God, there\u2019s one scene there where they almost kill the leadership.\u00a0 Have you ever been so mad at your pastor that you wanted to kill him\u2026 maybe you shouldn\u2019t answer that question.\n\nAnd this is the crowd that eventually build the golden calf.\u00a0 Now these people very clearly are saved because it says they believed.\u00a0 And if that doesn\u2019t convince you, when you study the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, I believe it\u2019s around verse 29, right in there, you\u2019ll see that this generation is in the hall of faith with all the other saved people. [Hebrews 11:29, \u201cBy faith they passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were drowned.\u201d]\u00a0 \u00a0And yet, they\u2019re not acting like saved people at all, and that\u2019s why they had to be put under the Law because they, as God\u2019s redeemed people, needed to know how to live for God.\n\nHow do you interact with each other?\u00a0 That\u2019s commandments 6-10; how do you interact with God?\n\nThat\u2019s commandments 1-4.\u00a0 How do you interact with the unsaved world?\u00a0 That\u2019s their identity as a kingdom of priests, that\u2019s described a little bit later on in Exodus, Exodus 19:5-6.\u00a0 How do you worship God?\u00a0 That\u2019s why they needed a tabernacle.\n\n[Exodus 20:1, \u201cThen God spoke all these words, saying, [2] I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.\u00a0 [3] You shall have no other gods before Me.\u00a0 [4] You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. [5] You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, [6] but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.\u00a0 [7] You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.\u00a0 [8] Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. [9] Six days you shall labor and do all your work, [10] but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it<\/em> you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.\u201d]\n\nAnd so this is evidence, to me, that there is an unfortunate reality of a carnal Christian.\u00a0 Other examples of carnal Christianity would be Peter, Acts 10:14, remember the dream of the sheet, Peter being a Jew under the Law of Moses for 1,500 years is now given a vision by the Lord to arise and eat in the dream with the sheet and the animals on it, which a Jew never did for 1,500 years and what does Peter say?\u00a0 \u201cNot so Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Now if He\u2019s your Lord how do you tell Him no?\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t make any sense, does it?\u00a0 \u201cNot so, Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Was Peter saved?\u00a0 I hope so because he preached the opening sermon on the Day of Pentecost where 3,000 people got saved.\u00a0 And yet Peter asserts his will against God in Acts 10:14 and he says \u201cNot so, Lord.\u201d\u00a0 [Acts 10:14, But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.]\u00a0 That clearly demonstrates that a person can, as a Christian, assert their free will against God.\n\nAnd then when you go to Galatians 2:11-14 you find Peter going back into legalism.\u00a0 So when the Pharisees would come to town Peter would withdraw from the Gentiles.\u00a0 Now that\u2019s Peter as a saved man, a regenerated man, a leader in the church doing that very thing.\u00a0 So it\u2019s another example of him asserting his will against God.\u00a0\u00a0 [Galatians 2:11-14, \u201cBut when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. [12] For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began<\/em> to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. 13] The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. [14] But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, \u2018If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that<\/em> you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?\u2019\u201d]\n\nAnd then you go to Acts 19 and verses 18-19 and you discover these people that got saved in Ephesus and it says, \u201cMany also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices,\u201d magic practices. \u00a0[19, \u201cAnd many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began<\/em> burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.\u201d]\u00a0 And Charles Ryrie has a very interesting note, he talks here about how it could have been up to months before these people who had been saved in Ephesus actually began to give up their magic arts.\u00a0 So again there is a space of time between a salvation and when a person enters progressive sanctification.\n\nAnd then you go over to the book of Corinthians, my goodness, look at 1 Corinthians 1:2, it says, \u201cTo the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been\u201d what? \u201csanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.\u201d\u00a0 Is there any doubt these people are saved?\u00a0 They\u2019re called the church, they\u2019re called saints, they\u2019re calling on the name of the Lord, Paul says it\u2019s \u201cour Lord\u201d their Lord is our Lord, your Lord is my Lord.\u00a0 Verse 7 of the same chapter, it says, \u201cso that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d\n\nDoes it look like these people are saved?\u00a0 And yet look at their lives.\u00a0 Chapters 1-4 they\u2019re fighting over their favorite Bible teacher.\u00a0 Chapter 5 they\u2019re involved in incest.\u00a0 Chapter 6 they are taking their disputes before unbelievers and discrediting the gospel.\u00a0 Chapter 6 they are involved in prostitution, going into the pagan temple.\u00a0 Chapters 7 there\u2019s rampant divorce and remarriage problems.\u00a0 Chapters 8-10 the stronger brother is flaunting his freedom in the presence of the weaker brother.\u00a0 Chapters 12-14 they are totally out of balance with spiritual gifts, they are putting tongue speakers on a pedestal with no interpretation.\u00a0 Chapter 15 they are denying resurrection.\u00a0 Sound like a real wonderful church to pastor there?\n\nAnd let me tell you something, Paul never challenges the salvation of these people through the whole book.\u00a0 It\u2019s astounding, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, look at what he says in 1 Corinthians 3:15, he warns them severely about the judgment of rewards and it says, \u201cIf any man\u2019s work\u201d it\u2019s talking about a guy who comes before the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ who\u2019s lived as a carnal Christian, \u201cIf any man\u2019s work is burned\u00a0 up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet as\u201d what? \u201cthrough fire.\u201d\n\nIs this guy in hell here?\u00a0 No, because it\u2019s his work that\u2019s burned up at the Bema Seat Judgment, because at the Bema Seat Judgment what God is going to do is apply fire to our works.\u00a0 Not us!\u00a0 If this guy was in hell the fire would be applied to him, he would be in the fire.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say he is in the fire; it says his works are in the fire, because the fire determines the quality of our works; are they done with carnal motives in mind or were they done with right motives under God\u2019s power.\u00a0 Were they just works done in the flesh or were these things that we did for God, depending on His strength and power the whole time.\u00a0 And if the latter then were rewarded God is going to take our works and put them through fire to test their quality because if there is a poor quality, like wood,\u00a0 hay and stubble, they\u2019ll be consumed immediately.\u00a0 If there of a durable quality, gold, silver and costly stones then they will survive the fire.\u00a0 In fact, the only thing the fire can do is what?\u00a0 Purify, not destroy.\n\nAnd it talks about a poor guy, and this is why Paul brings this up with the church at Corinth, it talks about this poor guy standing before the Lord, his works are burned up, he suffers loss, but he himself is what? Saved!\u00a0 He\u2019s in heaven but he smells the smoke on his garment; that\u2019s the doctrine of rewards there.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why not being a carnal Christian is a big deal.\u00a0 It may not determine heaven or hell but there is an issue of rewards that is determined.\n\nTake a look at 1 Corinthians 6:19, now this is the crowd in Corinth that\u2019s slipping out at night, going to visit the temple prostitute, because that\u2019s what you did in a pagan temple, you had sex with these prostitutes in the name of religion; those are called the Greco-Roman mystery cults or religion, which was all over the Mediterranean world at the time this was written.\u00a0 So the church at Corinth was just involved in this practice, some of them.\n\nPaul says, \u201cOr do you not know that your body is a temple of the\u201d what? \u201cHoly Spirit who is in you, whom you have form God, and that you are not your own?\u201d\u00a0 What is he saying here?\u00a0 He\u2019s saying when you go do that you\u2019re bringing the Holy Spirit in with you and you\u2019re grieving God\u2019s heart when you do that.\u00a0 He never says here you all aren\u2019t saved, you all aren\u2019t acting like Christians so I guess you\u2019re not Christians.\u00a0 He\u2019s saying when you become sexually immoral as a Christian you\u2019re bringing the Holy Spirit into that sin and that in it because the Spirit is in us for how long?\u00a0 Forever.\u00a0 So that in and of itself should give us an incentive to avoid sin.\u00a0 But very clearly a Christian living in sin, living in carnality is a possibility because Paul never second guesses the salvation of these people; he\u2019s saying you\u2019re bringing the Lord into it.\n\nPaul, if you go over to 1 Corinthians 9, verses 24-27, was afraid that he himself would drift back into carnality.\u00a0 He says, \u201cDo you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize?\u00a0 Run in such a way that you may win.\u00a0 [25]\u00a0 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things.\u00a0 They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.\u00a0 [26] Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; [27] but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.\u201d\n\nDisqualified for what?\u00a0 What\u2019s the prize? Is it heaven? It can\u2019t be heaven because if it was heaven Paul just taught works salvation, something that he taught against over and over again elsewhere.\u00a0 The prize that he has his eye focused on is the imperishable crown.\u00a0 And what he is worried about is being disqualified from that prize.\u00a0 He says look, if I go back into sin, which apparently the Apostle Paul had an ability to do, if I go back into sin I\u2019m afraid that I\u2019m going to be disqualified for this prize.\u00a0 Paul is not making a statement here about whether he\u2019s going to heaven because elsewhere he says I know in whom I have believed.\u201d\u00a0 [2 Timothy 1:12, \u201cFor this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.\u201d]\n\nWhat he is afraid of is forfeiting a crown or a prize at the Bema Seat Judgment.\u00a0 A prize, after I\u2019ve warned others about this prize I\u2019m afraid that I\u2019m going to be disqualified for the prize.\u00a0 So very clearly a Christian, even Paul, had the ability to live in carnality.\u00a0 Or else this statement he makes here is inexplicable, it doesn\u2019t make any sense.\n\nPhilippians 4:2-3, you run into a couple of ladies, not that ladies are the only people that do this but he says, \u201cI urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche\u201d I call them Odious and Suntouch\u00e9, \u201cI urge Euodia and Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. [3] Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of<\/em> the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.\u201d\u00a0 Now are these two women believers?\u00a0 How do you know?\u00a0 Their \u201cnames are in the book of life.\u201d\u00a0 They once contended with Paul in the cause of the gospel.\u00a0 Now they\u2019ve gone back into sin and they\u2019re fighting with each other.\u00a0 Yet another verse that demonstrates the unfortunate possibility of carnal Christianity.\n\nAnd one more and we\u2019re finished.\u00a0 What about Lot?\u00a0 Are you a lot like Lot?\u00a0 Genesis 13:12, Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom.\u00a0 He was thinking about sin.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the first step into sin is you start toying it with in the arena of your mind.\u00a0 See, there\u2019s a reason when you go out to dinner and they come around and they say would you like to order dessert and you say no thank you, and they say well would you at least like to look at the dessert display?\u00a0 Because marketing tells us that thinking about something leads to doing.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 So that\u2019s what Lot did.\n\nAnd then you get into Genesis 19:4-8 and he\u2019s sitting, in verse 1 at the city gate meaning he has risen to a place of importance here.\u00a0 He offered his own virgin daughters to the Sodomite crowd.\u00a0 Does that sound like a guy walking under the Spirit\u2019s control?\u00a0 Can you imagine offering your daughters to a mob sexually?\u00a0 [Genesis 19:4-8, \u201cBefore they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter;\u00a0\u00a0 [5] and they called to Lot and said to him, \u2018Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may have relations with them.\u2019\u00a0 [6] But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, [7] and said, \u2018Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly.\u00a0 [8] \u2018Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.\u2019\u201d]\n\nVerse 14 he gets spiritual, because we got to get out of here because God is going to destroy this place and they thought he was jesting.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s the only time \u201cjesting\u201d is used in the Bible.\u00a0 Oh, there goes Uncle Lot, joking around again, because the guy had no credibility because\u00a0 of his lifestyle.\u00a0 And then the whole story of Lot ends with him drunk with his daughters, in a sexual relationship with his two daughters, Genesis 19:30-38.\u00a0 And from those unholy unions came the Ammonites and the Moabites who were perennial enemies of Israel all their days.\u00a0 That\u2019s where those people groups started.\n\n[Genesis 19:30, \u201cLot went up to Zoar, and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.\u00a0 [31] Then the firstborn said to the younger, \u2018Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth. \u201c\u2019Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our family through our father.\u2019 [33] So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. [34] On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, \u2018Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve our family through our father.\u2019\u00a0 [35] So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. [36] Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. [37] The firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. [38] As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of \u2018Ammon to this day.\u201d]\n\nPeople love to let Lot off the hook here\u2014well, they got him drunk so it wasn\u2019t his fault.\u00a0 Why was he drinking with his daughters to begin with is what I would want to know?\u00a0 So you have this whole story of mass carnality and\u00a0 yet what does God say in Genesis 19:22,\u00a0 or the angel that came to destroy the city?\u00a0 The angel essentially says there, who came to destroy the city of Sodom, Genesis 19:22, \u201cHurry, escape there, for I\u201d what? \u201ccannot do anything until [you arrive there]\u201d until you\u2019re out of here, he doesn\u2019t say I will not do anything until you\u2019re out of here, I cannot do anything.\u00a0 What does that show us?\u00a0 Lot was a what?\u00a0 A believer, even though his lifestyle didn\u2019t reflect his identity.\n\nNow there isn\u2019t any doubt in my mind that Lot was a believer because if you go to 2 Peter 2:7-8 it calls Lot a righteous man, not once, not twice, but three times.\u00a0 [2 Peter 2:7-8, \u201cand if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men [8] (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),\u201d]\n\nSo question: how can he be a righteous man even though you look at the guy\u2019s record in the Old Testament and to be completely honest with you, if I didn\u2019t have that reference in 2 Peter I wouldn\u2019t even think Lot was saved.\u00a0 How can the guy be a righteous man and yet have a lifestyle that\u2019s unrighteous?\u00a0 Because he was a righteous man positionally but not what?\u00a0 Practically.\u00a0 He was a believer but not a what?\u00a0 Disciple.\u00a0 And Lot, I don\u2019t mean to let Lot off the hook, Lot paid for that until his dying day.\u00a0 In fact, his very own soul was vexed.\u00a0 But we\u2019re going to see Lot in heaven.\n\nSo what am I trying to get at here?\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to just give you a series of verses to demonstrate that carnal Christianity is not a good thing; it\u2019s not something we applaud.\u00a0 It\u2019s an unfortunate possibility.\n\nAll of that to say once we get saved God wants to do good works in our lives.\u00a0 However the good works we do for Him are desirable but not necessarily automatic.\u00a0 They don\u2019t determine your status as a believer but they do determine your status as a what?\u00a0 Disciple.\u00a0 And God wants us to overcome habitual sins.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t want us to keep going back to the same sins over and over and over again and when we find ourselves in those patterns the Bible is not making a statement at us that we lost our salvation or never had our salvation or we\u2019re not going to get into the millennial kingdom, he\u2019s saying you\u2019re living outside of who you are; you\u2019re living outside of your identity.\u00a0 You\u2019re living like the unbelievers and you are in a totally different program than the unbelievers.\n\nSo all of that to say good works are critical in the Christian life but whether it\u2019s good works or overcoming habitual sins these things are not automatic but they are desirable.\u00a0 So hopefully I made some sense tonight.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t