With New Life Comes Responsibility

Transcript

GR 1440
07/18/10
With New Life Comes Responsibility
Romans 8:12-17
Gil Rugh

We're in Romans 8 in your Bibles. There is no more exciting study in the Word of God than God's plan of salvation. And that's what the book of Romans is unfolding for us—the salvation that God has provided in His Son Jesus Christ. What an awesome and amazing salvation it is, for it takes those under the control and domination and condemnation of sin, sets them free, cleanses them, brings to them the very righteousness of God and provides for them new life that will culminate in the glory of God's presence for eternity.

Now important that we keep in perspective, when we talk about God's work of salvation, we talk about it in a past, present and future dimension. And obviously these together comprise God's plan of salvation—the past aspect, the present aspect and the future aspect. We distinguish between them but we don't separate them from one another. We talk about the past aspect, referring particularly to God's work of justification, when through faith in Christ we were declared righteous by a holy God. The present aspect of God's work of salvation we usually identify as sanctification, that ongoing work of God as we have been set apart from sin to God, that work He is now carrying out in conforming us in greater and greater ways to His own character in preparation and anticipation for the time when we will be glorified, suited for the glory of God's presence for eternity. So that past, present and future aspect. And often people claim to be sure that they have trusted Christ, so I'm settled on justification. I know I'm going to spend eternity in God's presence, I'm on my way to heaven. That's glorification. But we act like that middle period, that present aspect is somewhat nebulous and uncertain and hard to tell. But as we've been looking into the book of Romans, particularly chapter 6 and then again in chapter 8 we find there is no grayness to this present aspect of God's work of sanctification. Salvation is God's work from beginning to end and “He who has begun a good work in you will continue to bring it to perfection until the day of Christ Jesus,” Philippians 1:6 tells us.

Now I don't want you to misunderstand, while we are perfect in position there are no Christians who are perfect in their practice. So we talk about the present period of our lives, sanctification, we're not talking about people who have trusted Christ now live lives sinless. The provision that God made is sufficient and adequate for us to live a sinless life, but the reality of it is none of us do. So we want to be careful that we don't swing from one side to the other. That if I'm not perfect I must not be a true believer in Christ. No, scripture indicates that believers sin. And we've seen indications of that in Romans, we'll see more of that, some of it in our study today. But it's just as dangerous to swing to the other side and think, I know I've trusted Christ and even though I don't live for Him, even though I live my life in the realm of sin I know I have been saved and I'm going to heaven. Jesus warned of that danger when He said, many will say to Me in the day of judgment, Lord, Lord, we did many mighty works in your name. And then He says, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. I never knew you. So we have the biblical perspective that God's work in Christ has provided for our justification, provided for our sanctification, provided for our ultimate glorification. And that's where Romans 8 is going to take us, to God's work of glorification.

We've also said that we can talk about the two spheres of existence. You can draw two circles. We call them a sphere of existence, a realm in which we live and by which we are controlled. The one is the flesh, sin. As unsaved people we live in the realm of the flesh. When we come to believe in Jesus Christ, we die to the flesh, we are set free from that realm of existence and control and transform to a new realm or sphere of existence. Now we live our lives in the realm of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and we dwell in Him. It's a new life, it's the life of God being lived out in us.

Come over to Galatians 5, just a little bit of review that will tie to what we are going to be looking at today. Galatians has much material very similar to the book of Romans and in Galatians 5 we're talking about the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit, similar to what we talked about in Romans 8. We'll pick up with verse 16, but I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. See the contrast. If you've been with us in the study of Romans, walk by the Spirit, under the control and direction of the Spirit of God. You live your life in the realm of the Spirit and His activity and you don't carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. There is a conflict there. The power, authority and control of the flesh has been broken, we have been removed from its sphere of domination, but the flesh has not ceased to exist. It continues to appeal, even to us as believers.

Verse 18, But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. That was the subject of Romans 7, the freedom from the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident. What characterizes people who live in the realm of the flesh, dominated by the flesh, sin, Satan? These kinds of things—immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry and so on, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, conflicts, things like these, verse 21. And then the warning, and you'll note Paul warns. He is writing to churches, churches that he established in the region of Galatia, but he has warned them before, he warns them again. Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. They are not true believers. For in this realm we call sanctification, and if you are living in the flesh and these sinful things are the characteristic of your life, you are not saved. And you are not on your way to glory. The contrast is the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, on it goes. Now those who belong to Christ, verse 24, have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. That's how we got free. When we placed our faith in Christ, we died with Christ. So the flesh with its passions we've crucified, we were set free, its hold on us was broken. So verse 25, if we live by the Spirit. We came to life by the Spirit as we saw in Romans 6, when you believed in Christ the Holy Spirit of God identified you with Jesus Christ in His death, His burial and His resurrection to new life. We have life by the activity of the Spirit in causing us to be born again by the living and abiding word of God. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit, or follow after the Spirit. The particular word here we have translated walk, different than the normal word for walk. Means to have things lined up in a row and it often then means to follow because you line up things for people in a row so they will follow. J. I. Packer wrote a book on the Holy Spirit based on this particular word here, Keeping in Step with the Spirit. If we live by the Spirit we keep in step with the Spirit, we walk according to Him, His activity in our lives. And He produces His fruit. That's a reality. We belong to Him, we live for Him, we live by his power, under His control.

Come back to I John. We talk about the two spheres of existence, I want you to note something here. I John 5:18. And John has much to say about the children of God and the children of the devil and the transformed lives of those who have been saved by God's grace. Verse 18, we know no one who is born of God sins. We say, wait a minute, that means I should lead a perfect life. No, the idea of the present tense here, no one who is born of God lives a life of sin; no one who is born of God lives his life in the flesh, under the control and domination of sin, basically. But he who is born of God keeps him. It is the work of our Savior and the salvation He has provided, that's what enables us and empowers us now to live new lives. We'll get into this in Romans 8 shortly. And the evil one does not touch him. The evil one is the Devil. When you live in the realm of the flesh you are under the influence, control and domination of sin and Satan. Look at the next verse. We know that we are of God, that's those who are believers, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And literally, lies in the evil one. Because as we've noted, when you are in the flesh you are under the power, control, and authority of the flesh. When you are in the evil one you are under his power and control, when you are in the Holy Spirit you are under His power and control. So you see all non-believers live in the realm of the evil one, under his control and power. There is a contrast of existence—those who belong to God, those who belong to the devil.

Come back to John 8. Again Jesus drawing a contrast between the religious people, religious Jews of His day and those who truly belong to God. If you belong to God you would do the deeds of God, He tells them in this chapter. You belong to the devil so you do the deeds of the devil. Look at verse 44; you are of your father the devil. And note this, and you want to do the desires of your father. Remember I John 5? The whole world lies in the evil one. You are of your father the devil. What's that mean? You always want to do the desires of your father. I mean, you do his desires, that's your life. So you see the contrast here between a believer and an unbeliever. They live in two different spheres of existence, controlled and dominated either by sin and Satan or by God and righteousness. There is no truth in the devil and those who do not belong to God are unwilling to hear the word of God. That's what Jesus had told them in verse 43, why do you not understand what I am saying? Because you cannot hear My word. He was giving them the word of God. Two spheres.

We as believers need to be sure that we are clear on God's work of salvation. We are not amazed that the world functions like it does, does the foolish and sinful things that it does, has such an animosity toward the clear truth of the word of God. They do the desires of their father; they lie in the evil one. And so did all of us until by God's grace we came to believe in the Savior and were removed from that realm, made new and now have a whole new realm of existence.

Come back to Romans 8. In our last study we looked at verses 9-11 and Paul drew the contrast, however you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. That's the difference. You are in the Spirit if the Spirit dwells in you. That means you are not in the flesh. A Christian does not live in the flesh. A Christian can do sinful things, he cannot live there. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ he does not belong to Him. So every true believer has been transferred to a new realm of existence. If Christ is in you though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. And we noted that the better translation is the Spirit is life because in verse 2 of chapter 8 we are told the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, the Spirit who gives us life in Christ Jesus. So the body is dead because of sin and we noted we are talking about this physical body. It still bears the consequences of sin, it is dying. If Jesus Christ does not return in a hundred years everybody in this auditorium will be dead, even all the believers sitting here. We'll be dead. This body is dead, it bears the consequences of sin still, yet the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Because of the righteousness we have in Christ, we have life. So verse 11 told us, if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. These bodies of death, these dying bodies, the Spirit who dwells in us is going to give us life just as He gave life to the body of Jesus Christ when it was taken down from the cross and placed in the tomb. Three days later He was raised and by the glorious work of the Spirit of God we will be conformed to the body of His glory, Philippians 3 tells us.

So then, verse 12 begins, in light of these truths that I have unfolded here, so then, brethren, and he's drawing contrast here. But he is writing to the church at Rome and to believers in the church at Rome. But it's absolutely essential that they understand God's work of salvation. If we are confused on this our life gets confused. We need to have a grasp of our salvation. And so brethren, we are under obligation, not to live according to the flesh. We're not under obligation to the flesh to live according to the flesh. Not under obligation. Some translations would say not debtors, a debtor has an obligation. It’s saying the same thing. All obligation, all responsibility to the flesh, to sin has been ended because we died; we have been transferred to a new realm. So denotes the personal responsibility here we have, and this is the area of our sanctification. We might say, and I'll get in trouble, this is the weak spot humanly speaking in our salvation. We live it out and we stumble, we are not always faithful. God is always faithful, even when we are unfaithful He is faithful. He cannot deny Himself; He can't function contrary to what and who He is. But we are under obligation to live not according to the flesh. So you see the responsibility we have there, the obligation.

Back up to Romans 6. And in Romans 6 he talked about the fact that we have died with Christ, have been raised with Christ to newness of life in verse 4. Verse 6, our old man was crucified with Him so that our body as it was controlled by sin might be done away with; the power of sin in controlling our body is broken. So we would no longer be slaves to sin. For He who has died is freed from sin. That's the new life we have now, free from the power and domination of sin. Then we come down to verse 11 and in verses 11-13 you'll remember we had four commands given to us. Verse 11, even so consider, there's the command, yourselves dead to sin, alive to God in Christ. So you see we have personal responsibility here to live in light of what God has done for us in Christ. Do not let sin reign in your mortal body, this body of death, so you obey its lusts. You see the responsibility there. Don't go on presenting your members, the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Present yourselves to God. So you see there is personal responsibility, but the enabling power will come from the Holy Spirit. Now I fail in my responsibility at times. I may lose my temper, I may tell a fib which the Bible calls a lie, do other things that are sin. But the general character and tenor and pattern of my life is totally from a life outside of Christ.

Come back to Romans 8:12, so then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh. Because all obligation has been broken, he who has died is freed from sin, the power and control and authority of sin over us has been broken. For if you are living according to the flesh. We talk about the present aspect of our salvation, the life we are living. If you are living according to the flesh, you must die. Now he's not talking just about physical death here, because believers are going to die. He has just talked about our mortal body, referred to this body of death. It is a dying body for believers as well as unbelievers. The Apostle Paul has died, the Apostle John has died, all the believers in the church at Rome that Paul was writing to have died. But when he says you are living according to the flesh, you must die; he is talking about death in the ultimate dimension, ultimately experiencing the second death. We studied about it in Revelation 20; this is the second death, the lake of fire, eternal separation from God in hell. Physical death, separation of a person from their body. Spiritual death, separation of a person from God. Eternal death or the second death, separation from God for eternity in hell.

So he says if you are living according to the flesh you must die, he's talking about the ultimate dimension of death. So you see the contrast here. We get concerned and say, is it going too far? But it has to be put in perspective. But we don't want to miss the reality here. If you are living according to the flesh, you will die. That's the outcome.

Take a moment and come back to Matthew 7. Jesus is speaking in the Sermon on the Mount. Verse 13, enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who enter through it. You see that connection. A gate, and we've seen this in Romans 12 we are all born descendants of Adam and we're born sinners under condemnation. So you enter that wide gate, you travel a broad road. That's the life they are living, and where does it end? It ends in destruction. The gate is small. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life; I am the door. That picture that we enter through Christ; you enter another road, another way of traveling, of living your life. And that will end in life. Same thing we are unfolding now in detail in Romans here. Two groups of people: those who belong to Adam only and those who did belong to Adam but now belong to Christ. Two ways of living a life. We have tried to water this down that we want to Christianize people and so we want to minimize, we don't want them to think they are saved by works. You are not saved by works, but everyone who is saved by grace through faith in Christ will do the good works that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them as Ephesians tells us in Ephesians 2:10.
Back in Romans 8. If you are living according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit. Now that is key. Underline it, by the Spirit. We have heresies rattling around that draw great crowds. People are told that it is through their commitments, through their determination, the power of positive thinking, through seeing things differently, through believing things differently. It's done by the power of the Spirit. Period. And those without the Spirit have no power.

If by the Spirit you are putting to death. Putting to death, the verb is present tense. This is the life. So you see the responsibility here. By the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live. That's the same thing we talked about back in Romans 6:13, do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, your members as instruments of righteousness to God. So back in Romans 8:13, by the Spirit you are putting to death. How? I am living in light of the fact I died to sin, I do not use and I will not use the members of my body to serve sin any longer. That's the pattern, the characteristic of life of a person who has experienced the salvation of God.

If you are doing this you will live. You see, pattern of life with two ends. You are either traveling the broad road or the narrow road. The broad road is the road of the flesh; the life lived for sin and the devil, controlled by sin and the devil. Or the narrow road as a result of faith in Christ, a life lived in obedience to God, manifesting His righteous character in the righteous life we live, refusing to be controlled and dominated by sin that culminates in life. That life we are talking about here is eternal life, enjoying the presence of God for all eternity. The contrast is striking and clear.

Look at verse 14. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. That really explains the last part of verse 13, if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live, for all those being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. These are people living their lives now in the realm of righteousness, as those who live their lives in the realm of the Holy Spirit, the life of God being manifested in them. It's the activity of the Spirit and His power. Now I have a responsibility, the end of verse 13, by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body. This is why we talk about in the area of the doctrine of sanctification, we don't believe in perfectionism. We are now, because you have trusted Christ and have turned your life over to the Spirit, you live a sinless life. No. But we need to be careful of the other side where we just let go and let God. This is often connected to Kezic theology, views of sanctification where as though the “secret” of the Christian life is you just let go and let God. It sounds spiritual. I just turn it over to Him and let Him do it all. Then why aren't you perfect? God never fails. You know the problem? I do, as James said, we all stumble in many ways. If you could control your tongue you'd have everything else under control. The most difficult thing is our tongue.

So we are led by the Spirit doesn't mean we are perfect, but the characteristic of my life is a Spirit-led life, a Spirit-controlled life, a life lived in the realm of the Spirit of God. Ever had to deal with a person who claimed to be a believer? Yes, I trusted Christ when I was young. You say, I've known you for a while, I've never seen any evidence, I don't think, of the Spirit of God at work in your life. Don't say that to be mean, but we are to examine ourselves.

Turn over to II Corinthians 13. One time a number of years ago we had a person who had been actively involved here for years, left to go to another church. And people leave to go to other churches for a variety of reasons. They believe God wants them in another place and God is going to use them, whatever. But this person told his friends, I'm leaving because I always feel like an unbeliever when I sit in the service there. Well, I would say what Paul told the Corinthian church. II Corinthians 13:5 test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Terrible thing to just blow by this and say, I'm not perfect and I know I struggle with this and I don't have the joy of the Lord, the peace of the Lord, the patience of the Lord, the kindness of the Lord. But I know I'm saved. Wait a minute. Paul says, examine yourself, and see if you are in the faith. Or do you not recognize this about yourself? And he's writing to the church at Corinth, a church that he had established in the city where he maintained a ministry for an extensive period of time. Do you not recognize this about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you fail the test?

What do you mean examine yourselves to see if Christ is in you? How do I feel today? Do I feel like Christ is in me? That's not what he is talking about obviously. This is a test; there is something objective about it. Do you know what he is saying? Examine your life, if the life of Christ is manifest in you. Is your life the life of Christ? I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me. Examine yourself. Is the life of Christ manifest in you, His character? We read the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. Is that life manifest in you? Examine yourself. Be careful about making excuses for yourself. That doesn't mean you are sinless, but the reality of it is the life of Christ ought to be abundantly evident. Examine yourself, Paul tells the church that he’s established, to make sure you are in the faith.

You know when you examine yourself you ought to see the life of Christ manifest in your life because Christ dwells in you, unless you fail the test. I made a decision for Christ; I know I've settled that. Wait a minute, he doesn't say it is settled if you have made a decision for Christ. He says here pass or fail the test on the basis is the life of Christ manifest in you. Now it's true it will be a result of having placed your faith in Christ, but nobody places their faith in Christ who is not identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, like Paul says I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live. Yet not me but it’s Christ living in me. I have a new life; it's the life of Christ. Examine yourself. I was raised in this church. I remember when I made the decision. I was baptized here. Fine. Examine yourself. Is the life of Christ manifest in you? Well, I think I could find some things. That's not what he is saying. Have I ever sinned, do I sin? Yes. I can tell you my life is different and it is the life of Christ in me.

Come back to Romans 8. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, verse 14, these are the sons of God. We come now to a realm that is thrilling. We have a new realm of existence, we have a new relationship, and we are the sons of God. Everyone being led by the Spirit of God is the son of God. He's going to use son of God and child of God, children of God interchangeably here. He's going to talk about our being heirs, and often it was the firstborn son who was the heir. But being a son of God, a child of God, talking about the relationship and position that we have.

These are the sons of God, those who are being led by the Spirit of God, controlled by the Spirit of God. There is no such thing as a child of God who is not controlled by the Spirit of God. Isn't that what verse 14 says? All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, these are the ones who have been born again, born from above by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption by which we cry out, Abba Father. You've not received a spirit of slavery. I take it in the context here he is talking about the Holy Spirit. That's been the subject of all the verses that refer to the Spirit up to this point. And the end of verse 13, if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body all, verse 14, who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. This spirit you have received from God is not a spirit of slavery to take you back under the Mosaic Law, take you back to sin. Leading to fear again, and under the Mosaic Law there was always a sense of failure as chapter 7 made clear.

But you have received a spirit of adoption. And I take it this is a capital “S,” some difference on this. I take it in light of the use of it in this section. We have received a Spirit of adoption as sons. That's what the Holy Spirit has done; He has placed us into the family of God, right? A Spirit of adoption as sons. I have been taken from the realm of sin being a child of the devil. And this is awesome and remarkable and born again into God's family. I have been placed as a son of God by this action of the Holy Spirit. So now I cry out Abba Father. There are a number of writers who note that word translated cry out denotes the emotional intensity. I mean, God's salvation has taken hold of my entire being. It's not just an intellectual reality; it is something that has encompassed me in all of my being. And now I cry out and call Him Abba Father. Abba is the Aramaic word for father. This is the Greek word we've translated father. If we would have translated both words we would have had father, father. But we would have lost the fact that he used two different words here. I take it the prime reason he uses Abba is not because it may mean daddy, I think that may be going a little too far, but it ties it back to Mark 14 where in the Garden of Gethsemane we are told that Jesus called to His Father, Abba Father. And what he is doing is going to show in this context when we get to verse 17, we are fellow heirs with Christ, we have been brought into a relationship of adoption through the unique Son of God. So that we, too, are privileged to call Him Abba Father and there is a real true relationship here that involves and envelops me emotionally. One who was the child of the devil. Jesus said you are of your father the devil. The transformation and new life I receive is so great, the new life is so real. I don't call the devil father, I call God my Father. And He is my Father, I belong to Him, I am a son of God. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. The work of the Spirit in all of this and my spirit. I take it this is the first use of our human spirit here in verse 16: with our spirit. So the Holy Spirit with our spirit. We are the children of God, it is His work.

Come over to Galatians 4:4, when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law that He might redeem those who were under the Law that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our heart crying, Abba Father. It is a result of His work, the work of the Spirit. And now our spirit joins together and calls Him Abba Father. What a great work God has done in our lives. Could the change be any greater? It's hard for my mind to grasp this. I was a child of the devil; I was of my father the devil. Now the God of glory is my Father, creator of all. My Father. I call out to Him calling Him Father. How remarkable. And the Spirit of God joins with my spirit and testifies. By the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact will be established. Here the Spirit of God testifies to the reality of what He has done and my spirit joins in calling out.

We are children of God. Here he uses children of God, before he used sons of God. He uses them interchangeably with the emphasis on sons because the firstborn son was often the appointed heir.

He is not done. Verse 17, if children. If indeed we are children of God, and we are through Christ, then we are heirs also. Every child is an heir. Heirs of God. It's like he has to build this so it doesn't overwhelm you. If we are children then we are heirs. I'm talking about being an heir of God. When I'm talking about being an heir of God I'm talking about being a fellow heir with Christ. It does not get any better than that. Now Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God, He's a Son of God in a way that none of us are or ever will be. But there is also a point of connection that in Him we have become God's sons, God's children. And all that God has promised to Christ now becomes part of what is promised to us. He promised Him glory as a result of His work of redemption. What does He promise to us? Glory. We will rule and reign with Him when He reigns, right?

If children heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. I mean, the change is so remarkable. How do we ever get to a place in Christianity where we talk about there can be people who have truly trusted Christ, been justified by the grace of God and are on their way to eternal glory, and live like the devil. That lie comes from the pit of hell so that there will come in a day of judgment many who will say to Jesus Christ, Lord, Lord, I did this, I did that in your name. You'll note these are religious people doing religious things. They have a veneer. And He says, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. I never knew you. They didn't have their salvation and lose it, He never knew them. They were self-deluded and self-deceived right up to the point of judgment. What a terribly fate to come to the judgment day thinking you made it okay and to be told by the judge of all, I never knew you. You depart to hell. That's why the clarity of God's word is so crucial.

Now there is a condition here. If children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. He's talking about the sufferings of this present time, and verse 18 will go on to explain. The difficulties, the trials, the hardships of being a believer are part and parcel of God's plan for us because now we are identified with Christ as heirs with Christ. But you understand what it means to be identified with Christ? What did Jesus say? If they hate Me they'll hate you, if they reject My word they reject your word. Because of our failure to appreciate what God says about His salvation, we have some kind of fuzzy idea again that if we live the right kind of life and if we are doing what we should, the world is going to like us. What fellowship has light with darkness? There is no agreement between the temple of God and Belial. The devil never comes to like the children of God. The children of God have nothing in common with the children of the devil. Sometimes there is a veneer of civility, that doesn't mean we are to be mean to them. No, we are to do good to all men; we are to love our enemies. But don't ever be deluded that if you serve Christ faithfully, if you are a godly Christian and living a life of righteousness, the world will admire you and respect you, even if they don't agree with you. It isn't so. They will hate you all the more. Jesus put it this way, which of the prophets weren't persecuted?

Woe to you when all men speak well of you. That's the way they treated the false prophets who say what the people want to hear. But we are identified with Jesus Christ. So a mark of a true believer is he is identified with Christ and all that comes with it. That doesn't mean we go out and try to make enemies, we already have enemies—every unbeliever. That doesn't mean we treat them with hatred, we have respect for them. We looked at Titus 3 previously and so on; we need to put that in perspective. But you understand there is suffering identified with being identified with Christ. It is assumed all who will live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, Paul wrote to Timothy. I mean, the doubt is removed.

That persecution comes in a variety of ways. You put a believer and an unbeliever together, there is tension. Of course the unbeliever is going to think it is the believer's problem. We as believers ought to understand what the issue is. That's why we understand, until God changes their hearts there will be no change. That's why we come back and say, what the world needs is Jesus Christ, a message of Christ, the truth of the gospel. We present to them the message of Jesus Christ. To some we are a savor or life to life because by the grace of God He takes the message of His Son and brings them to salvation. But to others we are a savor of death to death. But remember from that passage from II Corinthians 2, what is pleasing to God is the fragrance of Christ. And so even in the persecution, in the suffering it just is an identification of us.

Many years ago William Penn wrote a book, wrote a number of things that were collected in a book and I happened to pick up an old copy. It's a big book and the complete works of William Penn written back in the 1700s. And one of the chapters there, No Cross No Crown. Good. Hundreds of years ago he understood it. Why? All he had to do was build it in the word of God. What did Jesus say? Take up your cross and follow Me. So those identified with Christ will suffer with Him, because of Him, but ultimately glory is the end. We've read the last chapter; we're not discouraged by the suffering, right? It is a badge of honor to be identified with Christ and suffer for Him. We are on our way to glory, this world is not our home, and we’re just passing through. We know God has prepared for us an eternal glory. That is part of the salvation that belongs to us in Christ.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the greatness of your salvation. How awesome it is, how overwhelming to consider that You and only You, the God of all power, could provide a salvation that could take those who belong to the devil, cause them to be born again, to have new life in Christ and to have You as their Father. How honored and privileged we are to call you Father, to live in a relationship with You, an unending relationship. Every moment of every day in this life we are privileged to live the new life you have given us in Christ. And we anticipate the time when your salvation for us will reach its fullness when we enter into the glory that you have promised to those who belong to You. We praise you in Christ's name, amen.