{"id":19126,"date":"2016-10-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-16T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/soteriology-035\/"},"modified":"2016-10-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-10-16T05:00:00","slug":"soteriology-035","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/soteriology-035\/","title":{"rendered":"Soteriology 035"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[93],"series_event":[459],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19126","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-galatians","series_event-soteriology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Soteriology 035","sermon_date":"20161016","sermon_month":"10","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":3998,"sermon_slides":3994,"sermon_mp3":4001,"sermon_id":"101616948103","series_or_event":459,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":93,"chapter_and_verse":"5:4","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSoteriology 35,\u00a0 Acts 5:1-11\n\nOctober 16, 2016\n\nLet me open with a word of prayer.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for today, this morning, and this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.\u00a0 So we\u2019re thankful, Father, You woke us up and got us here.\u00a0 I do ask, Father, that You use these sessions in Your Word to really fortify us in\u00a0 Your truth, and we\u2019ll be careful to give You all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.\n\nIf we could open up to the book of Galatians, chapter 5 and verse 4. If you need a handout just put your hand up and here we are continuing to navigate through the shark infested waters of eternal security.\u00a0 Of course, we\u2019ve done the easy part, we\u2019ve laid out the case for eternal security, once saved always saved.\u00a0 And then we come to the hard part, trying to answer the various passages that seem to contradict the idea of eternal security.\u00a0 Many, many people teach that you can have salvation and lose your salvation.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve interacted with passages in the Old Testament, passages in Matthew, passages in John, and last week we took a look at a couple of passages in the book of Acts, including the conversion of Simon, the Sorcerer, you recall.\u00a0 And now we\u2019re moving into passages from Paul and there\u2019s a lot of them but as you\u2019ll see after we finish today they\u2019ll go by pretty fast I think.\n\nThe first one is Galatians 5:4 and I was a very young Christian, I was teaching a Bible study, I taught everybody with great confidence and exuberance that you\u2019re saved and you can never lose your salvation, and there was a guy in that study who was of the Assemblies of God background, and the Assemblies of God, most of the ones I\u2019ve interacted with, believe you can lose your salvation.\u00a0 So he gives me a call in the middle of the week and he says I want to read this verse to you, which is Galatians 5:4 which says, \u201cYou have been severed from Christ,\u201d wow, \u201cyou who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.\u201d\u00a0 And he said how do you explain that verse, and I said dah\u2026 I didn\u2019t have an answer.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve had some time to work on it since then so I think I do have an answer to this.\u00a0 But again, it\u2019s one of those verses that when you read it at first glance it says \u201cYou have been severed from Christ,\u201d I mean, that\u2019s pretty severe.\u00a0 And then it says \u201cyou have fallen from grace,\u201d in other words, you were in the grace of God and then you took yourself out of the grace of God.\n\nWell, some talking points on Galatians 5:4.\u00a0 The first thing to understand, and this gentleman from the Assemblies of God wasn\u2019t denying this, but very clearly the Galatians are believers.\u00a0 We know that because Galatians 3:3, which I think is the key to the whole book, Galatians 3:3 says, \u201cAre you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?\u201d\u00a0 So clearly they were believers because they had \u201cbegun by the\u201d what? \u201cthe Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 And over in Galatians 4:6 he says, \u201cBecause you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, \u2018Abba! Father!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So he calls them sons of God, he tells them very clearly that they have the Holy Spirit inside of them, so very clearly the audience is saved.\n\nAnd in Galatians 5 he says, \u201cI say, walk by the\u201d what? \u201cSpirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.\u00a0 [Galatians 5:16]\u00a0 So obviously that kind of statement doesn\u2019t make any sense unless they have the what?\u00a0 Holy Spirit, which is something only the believer has.\n\nSo I think the way to understand Galatians 5:4 is an insight that I picked up at Dallas Seminary from my professor, Dr. Pentecost, and once he explained this the whole New Testament started to make sense to me.\u00a0 He said that in the New Testament there are three types of Pharisees.\u00a0 So first of all, what is a Pharisee?\u00a0 A Pharisee is basically somebody who is mixing faith plus works, and typically what a Pharisee does is they try to put you back under the Law.\u00a0 So a Pharisee is anybody who is mixing faith and law together to accomplish something in your spiritual life.\n\nAnd as you go through the New Testament what you\u2019ll discover is there are three types of Pharisee; there\u2019s not one\u2026 I used to think of Pharisee as just one group but there\u2019s actually three.\u00a0 The first group are Pharisees that are mixing faith and law to be justified before God and I used to think that was the only type of Pharisee.\u00a0 So there were people now you\u2019ve to trust Christ but you also have to submit to the Law of Moses through works to be justified before God.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the crowd that Jesus is constantly arguing with in His earthly ministry, as recorded in the Gospels.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why Jesus Christ, in Matthew 5:20 overthrows that crowd when he says, \u201c\u2026 unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will in no wise enter the kingdom of God.\u201d\u00a0 [ASV]\u00a0 And when He makes that statement He says to enter, in other words, to be justified it\u2019s not a matter of faith plus law; it\u2019s faith by itself.\n\nAnd then going down to the bottom of the screen there\u2019s a second group of Pharisees and these are what I would call ecclesiological Pharisees; these are Pharisees that aren\u2019t really adding faith plus law to be justified, they\u2019re adding faith plus law to join the church.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll see that the whole ruling of the Jerusalem Council was aimed at that group, and when you study that passage you\u2019ll see it very clearly because those that are meeting are clearly saved and they\u2019re trying to figure out what are we going to do with all of these Gentiles that just got saved in chapters 13 and 14, which is Paul\u2019s first missionary journey into southern Galatia.\u00a0 Once Paul goes into southern Galatia people start getting saved like crazy.\u00a0 But the leadership of the church is still Jewish so they\u2019re trying to figure out what do we do with all these Gentiles that are now believers?\u00a0 They knew that a Gentile could get saved because of the salvation of Cornelius, in fact, they had their first meeting in Acts 11 to validate that point.\u00a0 But now you\u2019re got another issue raising its ugly head; you\u2019ve got a bunch of Gentiles that are saved and the Jewish leadership says do we put these people under the Law to join the church or not?\n\nAnd you can see how a Jew would think that way because they had been under what for 1500 years?\u00a0 The Law of Moses, where if a Gentile gets saved they became a proselyte and they came under the Law of Moses to grow properly spiritually.\u00a0 Probably the most famous Gentile proselyte is\u2026 who am I thinking of in the Old Testament?\u00a0 Ruth, remember what she said to Naomi, her Jewish mother-in-law?\u00a0 Ruth was a Moabitess, she was not Jewish but she believed and she says, \u201cYour people will be my people, your God will be my God.\u201d\u00a0 [Ruth 1:16]\u00a0 And that\u2019s basically the program of a Gentile in the Old Testament age; if they were believers then they came under the Law of Moses.\u00a0 And so the Jewish leadership is saying well, it must be the same then, as we\u2019re in the age of the church.\n\nAnd so they had a great big meeting about this in Acts 15 and it\u2019s interesting, God doesn\u2019t speak in Acts 15, He\u2019s speaking through the Holy Spirit all the way through the book of Acts but there\u2019s no actual word from the Holy Spirit here in Acts 15 so they have to go into the Old Testament and reason from the Scriptures.\u00a0 And James, who was the pastor of the church at Jerusalem by this time, who wrote the book of James, speaks up and he quotes the book of Amos, chapter 9, which talks about Gentiles being full participants in the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 And James says you know, if Gentiles are going to be full participants in the Millennial kingdom then let\u2019s let the Gentiles into the church now without making them submit to the Law of Moses.\n\nAnd Peter, I think gives the most humorous line there in Acts 15, he says well us Jews, we didn\u2019t do a very good job for the last one thousand five hundred years keeping the Law, I mean, why do we think these Gentiles are going to do any better than we\u2019ve done.\u00a0 So anyway, the ruling comes down that you don\u2019t have to submit to the Law of Moses to join the church.\u00a0 So that\u2019s a refutation of a bunch of ecclesiological Pharisees who are mixing law and faith to join the church.\n\nNow the group of Pharisees that are being dealt with in the book of Galatians are sanctification Pharisees.\u00a0 Paul had planted all of those churches in Southern Galatia on his first missionary journey, he went back to Syrian Antioch, and his flock (within about a year\u2019s time) had been overridden by legalists.\u00a0 And these legalists were coming in and they were basically saying look, all you saved people, to grow in Christ the way you\u2019re supposed to you\u2019ve got to mix faith plus law to grow; you\u2019ve got to mix faith plus works to develop correctly.\u00a0 And the whole book of Galatians is a refutation by Paul against that middle group of Pharisees.\n\nSo Jesus, in Matthew 5 is overthrowing group one, justification Pharisees; the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 is overthrowing group two, or ecclesiological Pharisees.\u00a0 And the book of Galatians is really written to overthrow group three which are sanctification Pharisees.\u00a0 Yeah, you got saved by faith alone, we\u2019re happy about that, but if you really want to develop the way you need to, you need to go under a works-based system.\n\nSo therefore Galatians is not dealing with justification issues, and we think it is because we are living in the wake of Martin Luther who quoted the book of Galatians extensively in his battle with the Roman Catholic Church.\u00a0 He said \u201cthe just shall live by faith,\u201d quoting Galatians which is quoting Habakkuk.\u00a0 And Martin Luther actually called the book of Galatians his wife.\u00a0 I think the German (Hans, you can help me with this) is '<\/em><\/strong>Meine Frau<\/em><\/em>'<\/em><\/strong>,<\/em><\/strong> is that right?\u00a0 'M<\/em>eine Frau<\/em><\/em>'<\/em><\/strong>, my wife.\u00a0 And he actually claimed he was married to the book of Galatians because it had such a monumental impact on his thinking, and he used the teachings in the book of Galatians, faith alone, to refute the works oriented justification of the Roman Catholic hierarchy of his day.\u00a0 So because we\u2019re living in the wake of Luther\u2019s shadow we think Galatians is all about justification.\n\nBut it\u2019s very clear, based on the passages we\u2019ve looked at earlier where he acknowledge that the Spirit is inside these people already, Galatians 5:16, Galatians 4:6; Galatians 3:3, that the book of Galatians is really not a book about justification.\u00a0 [Galatians 5:16, \u201cBut I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.\u201d\u00a0 Galatians 4:6, \u201cBecause you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, \u2018Abba! Father!\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Galatians 3:3, \u201cAre you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?\u201d]\n\nI mean, you can apply the principles to justification but that\u2019s really not what the book is about.\u00a0 It\u2019s about a bunch of people that got saved, who have no New Testament yet, and they\u2019re being over-ridden by Pharisees who are trying to tell them yeah, you\u2019re saved by faith alone and that\u2019s great but you\u2019ve got to really work out your salvation under the law by human performance to grow.\u00a0 And so Galatians is a refutation to that middle group.\u00a0 And once you understand that you begin the whole book of Galatians starts to make sense to you.\n\nThe key verse, every book of the Bible has a key verse, I believe, that unpacks the meaning of a book more than any other book, is Galatians 3:3.\u00a0 If you understand Galatians 3:3 you\u2019ll understand the book of Galatians, where Paul says, in response to these sanctification Pharisees, \u201cAre you so foolish? Having begun by the\u201d what? \u201cSpirit,\u201d in other words, he\u2019s acknowledging that they got justified by faith alone, \u201cHaving begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?\u201d\u00a0 He goes you guys are crazy succumbing to this heresy that you\u2019ve been introduced to by these sanctification Pharisees.\u00a0 Every good thing that God has ever done in your life has been by the power of the Spirit by faith alone.\u00a0 And Paul\u2019s point is do you think it would be any different in your growth in Christ?\u00a0 You grow in Christ the same way you got saved, by faith alone under the power of the Spirit, not by submitting yourself to some sort of external legal system.\n\nAnd of all of the books, and this is why one of the first books I taught when I came to this church was the book of Galatians because I feel that its message is needed more in Christianity, perhaps than any other book because most Christians hear the gospel, they get saved, they have the Holy Spirit inside of them, but they\u2019re never really taught the principles of the spiritual life.\u00a0 And what they hear over and over again on Christian media, the Christian printed page, Christian pulpits, is be good or be holy.\u00a0 Well, anybody that\u2019s walked with the Lord for any amount of time knows that if you try to work out, if you try to achieve some sort of standard of personal holiness through human power you\u2019re going to be very frustrated.\u00a0 And Paul, in Romans 7 is talking about his own frustration when he went down that road as a new Christian.\n\nSo we\u2019re telling people to be holy but we never tell them how to be holy.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about holiness in daily life and that\u2019s what the book of Galatians is really about.\u00a0 \u201cAre you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit are you now trying to perfect yourself through the flesh.\u201d\u00a0 And so Paul, in Galatians, is overthrowing the sanctification Pharisees, just like Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is overthrowing the justification Pharisees, and just like the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 is overthrowing the ecclesiological Pharisees.\n\nSo what therefore is happening in Galatians 5:4, where he says, \u201cYou have been severed from Christ, \u2026 you have fallen from grace,\u201d the point of that statement is the Galatians were missing the grace of God, not in the first tense of their salvation (which they already had) but where are they missing the grace of God?\u00a0 In the middle tense of their salvation.\u00a0 That\u2019s the point.\n\nSo when people use Galatians 5:4 to argue you can lose your salvation Paul is not even dealing with that issue at all; he\u2019s assuming that they\u2019re saved, he\u2019s assuming that they are secure.\u00a0 What He\u2019s dealing with is their development or their growth.\u00a0 So the book of Galatians is a book really about the spiritual life.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the book of Galatians is about.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve gone through, have we not, the three tenses of salvation: Justification, the past tense of salvation where we\u2019re saved from sin\u2019s penalty at the point of personal faith in Christ.\n\nAnd then moving to the opposite end of the screen, glorification, the future tense of salvation where we will be saved from sin\u2019s very presence, after I\u2019m out of this body either at the rapture or death, whichever comes first.\u00a0 But then there\u2019s the middle tense of salvation and most of the New Testament is dealing with that middle tense, that\u2019s the confusion, where we are gradually, under God\u2019s power, being delivered from sin\u2019s power.\u00a0 And so what you\u2019ll discover is the word \u201csaved\u201d is used in the past tense, present tense, future tense.\u00a0 So if somebody asks you if\u00a0 you\u2019ve been saved the answer is I have been saved, I am being saved and I will be saved.\n\nAnd the book of Galatians is not dealing with tense 1 and it\u2019s not dealing with tense 3, it\u2019s dealing with tense 2.\u00a0 Now if you don\u2019t understand that you\u2019ll read Galatians 5:4 and miss the point of it and think it\u2019s talking about questioning people\u2019s salvation.\n\nSo when Paul says \u201cyou have fallen from grace\u201d you have severed yourselves from Christ, he is condemning them for reverting to a performance based relationship in daily living.\u00a0 Would you not agree that being saved but going back to a performance based relationship with God in daily living is quite a fall from God\u2019s grace?\u00a0 So they were missing the grace of God in the middle tense of their salvation. Now I have to admit to you that I fall into this all the time because I get up in the morning, I look at my day like you guys look at your day and I see these tasks that I have to do that are monumental and bigger than me and I start to become anxious because I\u2019m trying to figure out how I\u2019m going to pull this off in the flesh.\u00a0 And the moment I do that is the moment I, as a Christian, have fallen from God\u2019s grace.\u00a0 I\u2019m still going to heaven, my name is still written in the Lamb\u2019s Book of Life, but I am missing the present tense grace of God in daily life because every task that God gives me and every task that God gives you, you\u2019ll discover that the power, the reservoir of power is available to us if we would just take time to acknowledge it and tap into it.\n\nAnd that\u2019s how they fallen from, that\u2019s how they\u2019ve missed God\u2019s grace, severed from Christ in terms of walk and fellowship.\u00a0 So therefore Galatians 5:4 is not dealing with a loss of salvation issue. But once again, when you cherry-pick a verse and throw it in someone\u2019s face, (as happened to me) and you\u2019re given no context it looks an awful lot like you can lose your salvation.\u00a0 But looking at the whole book I\u2019m convinced Paul is not teaching they can lose their salvation, he\u2019s concerned about them missing the grace of God in the middle tense of their salvation.\u00a0 They\u2019re reverting to works in daily life.\n\nThe problem with our\u2026 first of all, we\u2019re works oriented to begin with, that\u2019s part of our sin nature.\u00a0 We like works (to a certain extent) because who gets part of the bragging rights?\u00a0 I do.\u00a0 So works automatically appeal to me.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Adam and Eve, the first thing they did in their fallen state is they covered themselves, remember?\u00a0 Genesis 3:7, so they\u2019re trying to fix themselves through their own power which is religion.\u00a0 [Genesis 3:7, \u201cThen the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.\u201d]\n\nAnd beyond that we\u2019re in a world system that all it does is scream works righteousness to us all the time.\u00a0 I mean, you get ahead in your job and you get the good performance evaluation in your job of if you\u2019re a student you get the good grade, if you do the work.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 If you please somebody.\u00a0 And so we take this world system we\u2019re in, which is all oriented towards works and I take my natural sin nature which likes works anyway, and in my Christian life I quickly forget that the same grace that saved me is the same grace that\u2019s going to empower me and I\u2019m going to heaven, my name is still written in the Lamb\u2019s Book of Life but I\u2019ve missed the unmerited favor of God through power in terms of daily life.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what Paul\u2019s condemning here in Galatians 5:4, it\u2019s not a statement about loss of salvation.\n\nAnd by the way, it\u2019s the same issue in 2 Peter 3; notice 2 Peter 3:17-18, \u201cYou therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men\u201d and look at this, \u201cand fall from your own steadfastness,\u201d people read that and say wow, you can lose your salvation, you can \u201cfall from your own steadfastness.\u201d\u00a0 But look at the next verse there, verse 18, \u201cbut\u201d what? the first two words in verse 18, do you see them, \u201cbut grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. [To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.\u201d]\u00a0 He\u2019s not questioning whether these people are saved to begin with.\n\nWhat is being short-circuited is their growth in Christ.\u00a0 And if you go back to a works orientation it will short-circuit your growth every single time, because in 2 Peter 1:5-7, as you study it you\u2019ll see this is the whole context of this book of 2 Peter.\u00a0 It\u2019s all about how saved people grow and we know that we\u2019re growing as the Holy Spirit is producing in us faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love and we\u2019re to allow the Spirit of God to work in us.\u00a0 [2 Peter 1:5, \u201cNow for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your<\/em> moral excellence, knowledge, [6] and in your<\/em> knowledge, self-control, and in your<\/em> self-control, perseverance, and in your<\/em> perseverance, godliness, [7] and in your<\/em> godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your<\/em> brotherly kindness, love.\u201d]\n\nSo when I try to achieve some level of spiritual maturity through human power that is what Peter is talking about when he says you\u2019ve fallen from your steadfastness.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a first tense salvation issue, it\u2019s a second tense salvation issue because Peter, like Galatians, is written to all believers.\u00a0 And of course Peter goes on and he talks about here\u2019s what\u2019s going to happen when you don\u2019t grow properly, you\u2019ll lack productivity, you\u2019ll lack harmony with your new identity, you\u2019ll even begin to question whether you\u2019re saved; you\u2019ll lack stability, you\u2019ll forfeit rewards, so the whole premise of it, like the book of Galatians, is to grow in the middle tense of your salvation.\u00a0\u00a0 And that\u2019s how to handle 2 Peter 3:17 which says you\u2019ve fallen from your own steadfastness.\u00a0 It\u2019s not opening the door to Arminianism or the idea that you can lose your salvation.\u00a0 [2 Peter 3:17, \u201cYou therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,\u201d]\n\nHaving said all that, let\u2019s go to another passage; now this passage is going to bring up four passages.\u00a0 Ready for this?\u00a0 And these will terrify you and they\u2019ve terrified me for years and I\u2019ve really tried to drill down and figure out what these mean.\u00a0 They are the passages that we call the household codes; I\u2019m not exactly sure why commentators label these the household codes, probably because it\u2019s how people in God\u2019s household are supposed to act.\u00a0 But this is what all of these passages say: it says, [2 Peter 5:19] \u201cNow the deeds of the flesh are evidence, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions,\u201d sounds like some of our congregational meetings sometimes, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 \u201cfactions, [21] envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you,\u201d before, now look at this, \u201cthat those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d\n\nNow the New Testament doesn\u2019t just say this once, it says it four times, the same type of literary style. \u00a0Once in Galatians 5:19-21, a second time in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, a third time in the book of Ephesians, chapter 5:5; and a fourth time in the book of Revelation, chapter 22:14-15.\u00a0 It lists all these sins and it says those that live like this \u201cwill not inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d\n\n[Galatians 5:19, \u201cNow the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20] idolatry, 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.\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 6:9-11, \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<\/em> covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. [11] Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.\u201d Revelation 22:14-15, \u201cBut I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.\u00a0 [15] 'So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.\u201d\n\nSo you can see how this would be a very troubling passage.\u00a0 And how you handle those passages depends on which lenses you put on as an interpreter.\u00a0 So let\u2019s put on our Calvinistic lenses for a minute; can we do that?\u00a0\u00a0 Calvinism teaches that if you\u2019re really saved you\u2019re going to be living right; they call that the perseverance of the saints.\u00a0 And a Calvinist would say, when Paul says those that live like this \u201cwill not inherit the kingdom of God\u201d he\u2019s dealing with unbelievers in the audience; he\u2019s dealing with people who are not one of the elect and we know they\u2019re not one of the elect because they don\u2019t have any fruit.\u00a0 So if you open that door then you\u2019re always worried, oh my gosh, if these sins characterize my life I guess I\u2019m not one of the elect.\u00a0 So that\u2019s said of eyeglasses number one.\n\nIf I\u2019m an Arminian I put on a different set of lenses, so when it says those that live like this \u201cwill not inherit the kingdom of God\u201d the Arminians say well, these are people that are saved but then they started living like the devil and they became what?\u00a0 Unsaved, loss of salvation.\n\nNow number three is a group of people that I call extreme Free Grace people and I\u2019m careful about the use of the word \u201cextreme\u201d because any time anybody disagrees with somebody on something you just call your opponent extreme.\u00a0 But I really couldn\u2019t come up with a better definition and it\u2019s actually a view that I experimented with and held, even in my recent history.\u00a0 For example, if you were to go back and listen to my Galatians sermon series, which I did here a few years ago, I basically argued what I would call the extreme Free Grace view when I was trying to handle Galatians 5:19-21.\u00a0 That\u2019s because I hadn\u2019t been exposed yet to a better view which I\u2019ll share with you.\n\nBut the extreme Free Grace view is this idea of millennial exclusion.\u00a0 So when it says those that live like this \u201cwill not inherit the kingdom of God\u201d it\u2019s arguing that these are saved people, they\u2019re just not going to get into the kingdom.\u00a0 Well, if they\u2019re not going to get into the kingdom then where are they going to go? Well, they\u2019re going to go to a place called outer darkness, which to me is kind of like a Protestant purgatory when you think about it.\u00a0 But they\u2019re going to be in some dark place, they\u2019re not in hell, praise God for that, but they\u2019re kind of in some dark place or they\u2019re in the\u2026 remember the Bob Uecker commercial, only the older people know who Uecker was, you\u2019re going to be in the Bobby Uecker seats during the football game, the baseball game, the basketball game, so you\u2019re there but you\u2019re like way off in the ghetto somewhere because you let these sins dominate your life.\u00a0 Or some people are arguing that you actually missed the millennial kingdom entirely, and this is an older view taught by people like Lange, you\u2019ll find it in the commentary Lange, and a lot of my friends in the Free Grace circle have actually resurrected this view.\u00a0 So you see a lot of this mindset coming out of groups like the Grace Evangelical Society, I like all those guys but when you get in their circles and get into their conferences and things you\u2019ll see a lot of them promoting this millennial exclusion idea.\n\nOr, they\u2019ll argue that it\u2019s an extreme loss of reward at the Bema Seat Judgment.\u00a0 And one of the things that bothers me about it is they almost turn heaven into hell and I\u2019m not denying the fact that there will be loss of rewards at the Bema and there\u2019ll be some regrets but they make it so severe they make it look like the believer is actually in hell.\u00a0 And Zane Hodges, the late Zane Hodges, who I have great respect for as an exegete, my wife and I were at a dinner party hosted by one of the people from the Free Grace movement and then in comes the great Zane Hodges, he had retired from Dallas Seminary and so he was kind of an idol of mine and he sat right next to me.\u00a0 And I\u2019m the kind of guy that likes to get along with people, except my wife was next to me also and so she starts asking him theological questions.\u00a0 In the Gospel of Luke there\u2019s a story of a man being cut up with a sword at the final judgment, and my wife asked Zane, she said well who is that guy?\u00a0 And he said that\u2019s a believer, not an unbeliever.\u00a0 And she said well what\u2019s the sword chopping this guy up?\u00a0 You\u2019ll find the story in Luke, I think it\u2019s around Luke 18, Luke 19, somewhere in there.\u00a0 He said that\u2019s the Word of God because Hebrews 4:12 says the Word is a what?\u00a0 A double-edged sword, it\u2019s the Lord just chopping someone up verbally because their life was characterized by certain sins that they never were able to get free of.\u00a0 [Hebrews 4:12, \u201cFor the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.\u201d]\n\nSo this is what I call an extreme view; you can call it millennial exclusion, you can call if wrath of God at the Bema Seat Judgment, and I have a real problem with that because my Bible over and over again tells me there\u2019s no longer condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 [Romans 8:1, \u201cTherefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.\u201d]\u00a0 And it tells me over and over again, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 that I\u2019m not a candidate for the wrath of God.\u00a0 [1 Thessalonians 1:10, \u201cand to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.\u201d\u00a0 1 Thessalonians 5:9, \u201cFor God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d]\n\nSo when people make the judgment seat of rewards so severe that they turn heaven into hell rather than just momentary regret, to me you\u2019re moving into a theological extreme.\u00a0 Fortunately I was rescued by this fourth view, which I call the classic grace view, which I think is the right view and I\u2019ll try to show you why I think that.\u00a0 When Paul says \u201cthose that live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God\u201d he\u2019s switching subjects; he\u2019s switching from you, the believer, to they, the unbeliever.\u00a0 Now why is Paul switching subjects?\u00a0 Because in the context you\u2019ll see what Paul is doing; he\u2019s trying to argue don\u2019t live any more like the unbeliever.\u00a0 Why should you not live like the unbeliever anymore?\u00a0 You should not live like the unbeliever anymore because you\u2019ve been bought with a price.\u00a0 And that\u2019s all Paul is saying; he\u2019s not getting into the subject, maybe you\u2019re not saved if these sins are in your life; he\u2019s not getting into the subject of maybe you\u2019re going to lose your salvation if these sins characterize your life.\u00a0 He\u2019s not telling them they\u2019re going to some kind of Protestant purgatory, outer darkness, or turning heaven into hell with a very severe Bema Seat Judgment understanding.\u00a0 He\u2019s simply switching topics.\u00a0 He mentions unbelievers very quickly and he says don\u2019t look like them.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because you\u2019re a different identity to them.\u00a0 And then he goes right back to talking to believers again, or talking about believers. So those are the four views; I\u2019ve laid out which view I think is right, now it\u2019s just a matter of trying to prove it.\n\nNotice Galatians 5:19-21, \u201cNow the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20] idolatry, 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\u00a0 So is this they\u2019re not saved to begin with, Calvinism?\u00a0 Is this they lost their salvation, Arminianism?\u00a0 Is this they\u2019re going to outer darkness in the sense that they\u2019re not going to enter the millennial kingdom, extreme pre grace?\n\nI don\u2019t think it\u2019s either of those three; I think it\u2019s a switch in topic because when you go back to verse 16 he uses the second person pronoun \u201cyou\u201d and whenever he says \u201cyou\u201d he\u2019s talking to the believing audience.\u00a0 \u201cBut I say walk by the Spirit, and\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201cyou will not carry out the lusts of the flesh.\u201d\u00a0 Obviously when he says \u201cyou\u201d he\u2019s talking to believers who have the Spirit.\u00a0 And then he goes on in verse 18 and he says, \u201cBut if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.\u201d\u00a0 And then what does he say there after he mentions all of those sins, \u201ccarousing, and things like this, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you,\u201d notice the switch, \u201cthat\u201d what? \u201cthose,\u201d so he just switched his whole pronouns.\u00a0 He moves from \u201cyou\u201d to \u201cthose.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s sort of an interesting switch, isn\u2019t it.\n\nNow why is he moving from \u201cyou\u201d to \u201cthose\u201d?\u00a0 His point is why would you go back to acting like an unbeliever; they\u2019re not going to heaven like you are.\u00a0 In fact, your identity is completely different than an unbeliever so why would you behave like them.\u00a0 And that view fits the context so well because what is he saying here in Galatians 5:17?\u00a0 \u201cFor the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.\u201d\u00a0 Have you notice as a Christian there\u2019s a war inside of you?\u00a0 And his whole exhortation is to not go back to the Adamic nature but to live according to the Spirit\u2019s desires and the Spirit\u2019s empowerment.\n\nAnd he goes on and he says, [22] \u201cBut the fruit of the Spirit is\u201d what? \u201clove, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [24] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s how you\u2019re to act, don\u2019t go back to the sin nature because when you go back to the sin nature you\u2019re acting like people that aren\u2019t going to heaven anyway and you\u2019re a totally different person than they are.\u00a0 You have a totally different identity.\n\nSo the view that he\u2019s switching subjects and getting believers to live according to their new identity fits, I think, the context very nicely.\u00a0 And you see the switch from \u201cyou\u201d to \u201cthose.\u201d\u00a0 Now notice the second time this happens.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go over to 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, this is a second household code.\u00a0 Paul says, \u201cOr do you not know that the unrighteous 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, nor the<\/em> covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. [11] Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.\u201d\n\nSo there again it says if these sins characterize somebody\u2019s life they will not inherit the kingdom of God.\u00a0 So Calvinism says these are people that are not saved, they\u2019re not one of the elect.\u00a0 So he is making statements to his flock there in Corinth and he\u2019s basically making a point that there are some of you all that may not be Christians, and you know you\u2019re not a Christian because these sins characterize\u00a0 your life.\u00a0 Arminians say these are people that had salvation but what?\u00a0 Lost it.\u00a0 The extreme free grace view comes along and says these are people that are saved, that are eternally secure but they\u2019re not getting into the what?\u00a0 The kingdom, they\u2019re going into some kind of outer darkness, and that\u2019s how they interpret \u201cwill not inherit the kingdom of God.\u201d\n\nFortunately there\u2019s a fourth view that rises to the rescue where Paul is not getting into the subject, maybe you\u2019re not saved, maybe you lost your salvation, maybe you\u2019re not getting into the kingdom but he instead switches subjects and addresses the conduct of unbelievers and says why would you as a child of God imitate an unbeliever; you\u2019re of a totally different identity than they are.\u00a0 And that\u2019s Paul\u2019s only point.\u00a0 And I think that\u2019s what he\u2019s doing here because he uses the word \u201cyou\u201d when he begins the sentence, or the statement, and when Paul uses the word \u201cyou\u201d in Corinthians he\u2019s always talking to saved people.\u00a0 \u201cI brethren\u201d earlier \u201ccould not speak to you<\/em> as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. [2] I fed you<\/u> with milk and not solid food; from now on you<\/u> are not able to receive it.\u00a0 And even now you\u2019re still not able, [3] for you <\/u>are still carnal.\u00a0 For where there are envy, strife and divisions among you,<\/u> are you<\/u> not carnal, and behaving like mere men?\u201d\u00a0 When he uses the word \u201cyou\u201d he\u2019s talking to saved people.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how he begins 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, \u201cOr do you<\/u> not know\u201d watch the switch here, \u201cdo you not know that the\u201d what? \u201cunrighteous\u201d now he\u2019s talking to a different group or about a different group.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t say \u201cor do you not know that you will not inherit the kingdom of God,\u201d he says, \u201cDo you not know\u201d then he starts talking about unbelievers and what characterized their lives.\n\nNow question, who are the unrighteousness?\u00a0 Back up in the chapter and look at verse 1; the context solves this, \u201cDoes any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the\u201d who? \u201cunrighteous\u2026\u201d when Paul uses the word \u201cunrighteous\u201d in verse 9 it\u2019s the same word for the unrighteous that he\u2019s used in verse 1.\u00a0 So who are the unrighteous?\u00a0 The unrighteous are judges that the Corinthians had submitted their disputes to, unbelieving judges.\u00a0 And Paul says don\u2019t you all know that you\u2019re wrecking your testimony when you do that?\u00a0 There\u2019s so much conflict in the body of Christ that you have to go to an unbeliever to get them to resolve your case?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you know you\u2019re discrediting the gospel because Jesus said \u201cAll men will know you are My disciples by your\u201d ability to win arguments\u2026 it doesn\u2019t say that, \u201cby your love for each other.\u201d\u00a0 [John 13:35]\n\nSo because there\u2019s so much tension and friction in the body of Christ in Corinth that you have to get an unbeliever to resolve your case you\u2019ve just wrecked your testimony.\u00a0 Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the\u201d who? \u201csaints?\u201d\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 6:1]\u00a0 So the unrighteousness are different than the saints; you see that?\n\n\u201cBut brother goes to law with brother, and that before\u201d who? \u201cunbelievers.\u201d\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 6:6]\u00a0 Who are the unrighteousness in verse 1?\u00a0 Unbelievers.\u00a0 Who are the unrighteousness in verse 6?\u00a0 Unbelievers.\u00a0 Therefore who are the unrighteousness in verse 9?\u00a0 Unbelievers.\u00a0 \u201cOr do you not know that the unrighteous\u201d now he\u2019s dealing with a different group of people, which is defined earlier in the chapter as unbelievers, the unbelievers he\u2019s talking about, not the sinning believer.\n\nAnd you\u2019ll notice in verse11, you see the conjunction \u201cbut\u201d three times?\u00a0 Now he\u2019s transitioning back to the who?\u00a0 The believer.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he says \u201csome of you\u2026were\u201d past tense, it says \u201cwere four times there in verse 11.\u00a0 [Verse 11, \u201c\u201cSuch were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.\u201d\u00a0 And he goes back to which familiar pronoun in verse 11?\u00a0 \u201cyou.\u201d\u00a0 So what is Paul trying to say?\u00a0 Paul is trying to say\u2026 what he\u2019s not saying is maybe you all aren\u2019t saved; he\u2019s not saying maybe some of you all are going to lose your salvation.\u00a0 He\u2019s not saying some of you are going to go into outer darkness.\u00a0 Those are foreign to his thoughts and writings.\n\nWhat he is saying is you, as a Christian, should not imitate an unbeliever because when you imitate the sinful pattern of an unbeliever you are living outside of your destiny and your character because unbelievers have a completely different destiny than you have.\u00a0 That\u2019s the only point.\n\nAnd this fits the larger context very nicely because what does Paul condemn the Corinthians for in the prior chapter? It\u2019s actually reported that there is immorality among you an immorality of such a kind does not even exist among the\u201d who? \u201cthe Gentiles.\u00a0 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the\u201d who?\u201d the Gentiles, [that someone has his father\u2019s wife.]\u2019\u201d\u2019 [1 Corinthians 5:1] It was an incestuous issue and Paul says why are you acting just like an unbeliever, in chapter 5?\n\nAnd it fits the context very nicely in verses 18-20 of chapter 6 where he says, \u201cFlee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.\u00a0 [19] Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the\u201d what? \u201cHoly Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?\u00a0 [20] For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your\u201d what? \u201cbody.\u201d\u00a0 Don\u2019t use your body like an unbeliever uses their body because they have a totally different character and a totally different destiny than you have.\u00a0 That\u2019s his only point.\u00a0 He\u2019s not trying to second guess the salvation of the Corinthians or argue they\u2019re going to lose their salvation or miss the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 And you arrive at this conclusion simply by watching Paul shift in pronouns from \u201cyou\u201d to \u201cthe unrighteous\u201d which is defined earlier in the chapter as unbelievers, and then back to \u201cyou.\u201d\u00a0 See that?\n\nNotice Ephesians 5:5, here\u2019s the third time this transpires.\u00a0 Ephesians 5:5, third household code, \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 Christ and God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Now if I put on my Calvinist lenses I would say well, Paul is talking there to the un-elect, the non-elect in the flock because if those sins dominate their lives, impurity, immorality, covetousness, then they never were one of the elect so they\u2019re going to hell.\u00a0 If I put on my Arminian glasses I would say Paul is addressing all believers but these are believers who what?\u00a0 Lost their salvation.\u00a0 That\u2019s how they would understand not inheriting\u201d the kingdom of Christ.\u201d\u00a0 If I put on my extreme free grace glasses I would argue that this is really talking about believers who are going to miss the what?\u00a0 The millennial kingdom, they\u2019re going to go into outer darkness.\n\nNow that third view, extreme grace, millennial exclusivism could not be right.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 Because Paul, in chapter 1 verse 18 says \u201call believers\u201d will inherit heaven or the kingdom. Does he not say that in Ephesians 1:18, \u201cI pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance\u201d of some of the saints\u2026 it doesn\u2019t say that, does it? If you\u2019re a saint you\u2019re going to enter.\u00a0 As J. Vernon McGee says you\u2019re a saint or you\u2019re an ain\u2019t.\u00a0 So the idea that some are going to make it into the kingdom, some are not is an idea that Paul taught something directly against in Ephesians 1:18.\u00a0 Paul is consistent because in Ephesians 5 he can\u2019t be saying that some are going to make it, some aren\u2019t; some Christians will get into the kingdom, some will not.\n\nSo the Calvinist, the Arminian, the extreme free grace views are not right; fortunately a fourth view rides to our rescue.\u00a0 \u201cFor this you know with certainty\u201d now when he says \u201cyou\u201d he\u2019s talking to who?\u00a0 Believers in the church at Ephesus. \u201cFor this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person\u201d he\u2019s just switched, he switched from the second person pronoun to person, so what is Paul doing here?\u00a0 He\u2019s making a simple point that you, he\u2019s not second guessing salvation, he\u2019s not saying maybe you weren\u2019t saved if you have these sins in your life, maybe you\u2019re going to lose your salvation if these sins are in your life, maybe you\u2019re not going to get into the kingdom if these sins are in your life, but he\u2019s not getting into that at all.\u00a0 He\u2019s simply making a little dinky point that everybody has blown up and made a big deal about that a Christian should not imitate a non-Christian in daily life.\u00a0 Now why would I not imitate a non-Christian in daily life?\u00a0 Because I\u2019m a new man, I have a new identity.\u00a0 And does that not fit with everything he said in Ephesians 5?\n\n[Ephesians 5:3] \u201cBut immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among the saints;\u201d\u00a0 [Verse 6]\u00a0 \u201cLet no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. [7] Therefore do not be partakers with them;\u201d don\u2019t imitate the unbeliever.\u00a0 [8] \u201cfor you were formerly darkness, \u2026[11] but instead even expose them; [12] for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret.\u201d\u00a0 The whole point of the chapter is don\u2019t go back to living like an unbeliever because that\u2019s not who you are.\u00a0 Don\u2019t go back to living like a child of darkness because you\u2019re of a totally different quality and character.\n\nSo as you explore view number 5 and don\u2019t just adopt it because I think it\u2019s true, explore it\u00a0 yourself, I think what you\u2019ll discover is view 4 fits so well with the context that Paul is not getting into the issue of the insecurity of the believer.\u00a0 That\u2019s not his point.\n\nOne more and we\u2019re finished.\u00a0 The book of Revelation, I think this one is the easiest one to understand.\u00a0 Revelation 22:14-15, John writes, \u201cBlessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.\u00a0 [15, Outside 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 So it\u2019s talking about redeemed people in the eternal city called the New Jerusalem.\u00a0 And then it says outside, outside what?\u00a0 Outside the city are who?\u00a0 The dogs, the sorcerers, the immoral persons, the murderers, and idolaters.\n\nNotice these sins:\u00a0 sorcerers, immoral persons, murderers, idolaters and liars.\u00a0 So let\u2019s put on my Calvinistic lens for a minute.\u00a0 If I was a very strong Calvinist I would argue that John is addressing people within the church that are not saved; that\u2019s why they\u2019re outside the city.\u00a0 If I were to put on my Arminian lenses for a minute I would argue that these are people that once had salvation but what?\u00a0 lost it.\u00a0 If I were to put on my extreme free grace lenses for a minute I would argue that these are believers but what did they miss?\u00a0 The millennial kingdom.\u00a0 In fact here the millennial kingdom is over, this is the eternal state.\u00a0 So they\u2019re kind of stuck out on the [can't understand word] seats forever.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t think of those views captures what John is saying, because look at these five sins: sorcerers, immoral persons, murderers, idolaters and liars.\n\nGo back to Revelation 21:8, one chapter earlier.\u00a0 \u201cBut for the cowardly and the unbelieving and the abominable\u201d does this sound familiar, \u201cand murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters,\u201d the same five sins,\u201d keep reading the verse, it says \u201c\u2026their part will be in the lake that burns with\u201d want? \u201cfire and brimstone, which is the second death.\u201d\u00a0 John here, when he uses these expressions is not talking about believers at all; he\u2019s just making a final statement of the destiny of the unbeliever.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why our behavior shouldn\u2019t involve these sins.\u00a0 Why would I imitate these sins when those people are on a totally different track than I\u2019m on.\u00a0 Now \u201csecond death\u201d is very clearly a reference to hell; there\u2019s no doubt about that because in Revelation 20, another chapter a little earlier, John mentions the Great White Throne Judgment, if your name is not found written in The Book of Life, Revelation 20:15, then he was thrown into the lake of fire, backing up into verse 14 the lake of fire is the what?\u00a0 \u201csecond death.\u00a0 [Revelation 20:14, \u201cThen death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.\u00a0 [15] Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.\u201d]\n\nThen death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.\u00a0 So therefore when Revelation 21:8 mentions those five sins and Revelation 22, same author just a chapter later, mentions those five sins it\u2019s not a statement at all about believers.\u00a0 It\u2019s simply a description of the final destiny of the unbeliever.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why Paul, in the household code says don\u2019t imitate the unbeliever because they\u2019re on a totally different track than you\u2019re on; they have a totally different destiny.\u00a0 Live according to your heavenly identity.\n\nSo all of this to say is people take these household codes and if you\u2019re not given this background they\u2019ll throw you into a state of insecurity about your own salvation: (A) maybe you never had it if these sins show up in your life, (B) maybe you lost it if these sins show up in your life, (C) maybe you\u2019re going to miss the millennial kingdom if these sins show up in your life.\u00a0 And what I\u2019m trying to argue is all of that is a bunch of extra baggage reinserted into these passages.\u00a0 Paul is just making a little dinky point; he\u2019s not even getting into soteriological issues, he\u2019s just making a little dinky point that you ought to live according to your new identity, not the way unbelievers live, because your destiny is really different than theirs.\n\nSo I don\u2019t know if I confused your helped you but that\u2019s the way to navigate through the household codes.\u00a0 Any questions.","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