BS3E - A DECISION IS NEEDED
All Christians are offered the same kind of life that Christ offered his first followers and we are challenged to live in that life.
“The disciples and the early Christians possessed those remarkable powers simply and solely because they obeyed the Lord’s challenge, entered into the Kingdom of Heaven, and lived obeying and practicing heavenly principles. As children of God and thus citizens of the Kingdom, they experienced the power of God in their lives --- not because they obeyed some magical heavenly formula, but because they obeyed their Lord and therefore grew spiritually strong and useable by the Master.
The Lord Jesus did nothing which is not possible and indeed normal for all men and women to do after they received the life of God. He was the pattern and standard of what God purposes for all men and women. The Gospel of Jesus Christ calls every one of us to this experience – to enter into and live in the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Hannah Hurnard: Walking Among the Unseen, Chapter 6)
Therefore, another strand to Jesus’ teaching is the importance of making decisions --- not sometime in the future but here and now. In this study we’ll look at some of the decisions that we need to make so that we are clear. We talked about some of the decisions already in “The Kingdom of God is the Key to Finding Our Purpose”. But let’s go over them one by one. There are some big decisions that need to be made, and then after that, our days will be full of smaller decisions. If the big decisions are settled then the smaller decisions that come day by day will be easier to make.
The First Decision
When John the Baptist came ahead of Jesus to get the people ready for His coming, what did He ask them to do?
Matthew 3:1-2, 8
The amplified Bible tells us clearly what the word repent means:
think differently, change your mind, regret your sins, and change your conduct.
Why do we need to think differently and change our conduct?
The fact is that most of us think we are basically good people with a few flaws. And then we rationalize these flaws as nothing to worry about because if we try hard enough, we can change.
The Apostle Paul (who wrote most of the New Testament) had been “a Pharisee of Pharisees”. In other words, he was on the most straight and narrow path that a person could walk. After Paul met Jesus, he turned around (repented) and began to walk in a new direction – the path Jesus was leading him to take. Instead of things getting easier however, they got harder for him. Jesus needed Paul to get a revelation that he wasn’t the good person that he thought he was. He was a sinner like all the rest of us. Read this entire account and then let me point out some highlights for us afterwards.
Romans 7:7-25
In Romans 7: 8, 9,13,14,17,20, 23, 25 --- is sin listed as singular or plural (sins)?
God was giving Paul a revelation that sins (plural) are about actions that are committed against God and man. But sin (singular) is about a nature we have inherited that naturally causes us to commit sins (plural). What frustration finally caused Paul see this?
Romans 7:15
Paul was seeing something inside of himself that reacted to the law and he gave us an example:
Romans 7:7-8
The law of God said that we shouldn’t covet what other people have. But suddenly he couldn’t do anything else but covet what others had. He tells us in these verses that “sin (something already inside himself) seizing the opportunity…..produced every kind of covetous desire.” And this brought him to a new conclusion which he repeats a few times within these verses.
Romans 7:17-20
We know that by this time Paul was a follower of Christ but he was what Paul later termed a “carnal Christian”. He was a forgiven sinner without any power in Him to live as he was supposed to live. What frustrating result did this have for Paul?
Romans 7:21
Can you relate to Paul? Usually there are one or two things in our lives that we just can’t seem to overcome. For some it is lustful thoughts. You don’t want to think them but they keep coming and you struggle. For others, it is overeating. You know this kind of gluttony is slowly killing you and yet you can’t seem to stop eating. Some of us are perpetual liars or “stretchers of the truth”. We want to be truthful and yet we still exaggerate. Whatever it is for you that is a constant frustration, God is allowing it so that we’ll come to the same revelation that Paul had.
The laws of God are good because he knows what is best for us and wants us to steer clear of harmful ways. But this sin nature (that we inherit) inside of us, reacts to the laws of God. Therefore, even if we recognize that God only asks us to obey things because it’s in our best interest, what else is true?
Romans 7:22-23, 25b
Here Paul is getting a revelation that there is “the law of God” (wanting us to do right) but at the same time there is in each of us “the law of sin” (wanting us to do wrong). This left him very wretched and wondering how he could ever be delivered from this tug-of-war going on inside of him. Suddenly the answer was there for him.
Romans 7:24-25a
Jesus came precisely to deal with this “law of sin” that is in all of us. The “law of God” was given to us for what reason?
Galatians 3:24
A few verses earlier (Galatians 3:22-23) Paul tells us that “the whole world is a prisoner of sin”. In other-words we all struggle with “something” and we are held captive by that “something” – whatever it is for us. We might look free to others but we know inside that we are a slave to …..lust, overeating, fornication, pride, anger and (fill in your own blank).
If we try and get on top of our “something” through will-power alone, we will fail. We might succeed for a while but eventually we’ll fail again. What does Paul call our self-efforts to defeat the sinful nature inside of us?
Galatians 3:10
A curse is like a long, dark arm reaching out to keep us perpetually in defeat.
If we try to obey God’s law in one area by our own strength, then we fail in another. The truth is, we need to obey the entire law in our own strength if we are going to be right in God’s sight. But Paul is trying to save us some time. He has found (through his own experience) that it is impossible to obey the law of God fully in our own strength. In fact, the law only makes us conscious of one thing!
Romans 3:20
When the time was right, God sent Jesus to our world to deal with this sin problem occurring in all of us.
Galatians 4:4
The sin problem that we all have is the reason for our first decision – to repent. Until we see who we really are, we can never resolve the struggles within us and change. It’s only when we call our sin for what it is – SIN – that we can move on to the next step God has for us.
Acts 2:38 / Acts 3:19 / Acts 17:30-31
To repent as mentioned earlier is a change in our thinking so that we agree with God and turn around. We don’t just have a little problem with lust. Lust in fact controls us so that we can’t stop thinking about the pleasures of sex every time we see some good-looking man or woman whom we are not married to. We agree with God that this is wrong. It’s sin.
We don’t just have a little problem with overeating. We eat anything and everything in sight whether we’re hungry or not. Thoughts of food are always on our mind so that we live to eat rather than eating to live. We agree with God that this is wrong. It’s sin.
We don’t just have a little problem with exaggeration. We “stretch the truth” to our advantage and sometimes outright lie to get what we want. We agree with God that this is wrong. It’s sin.
The Holy Spirit will help us by bringing to our minds and conscience things that God sees in us that are wrong. When these come to us, then repent of them and get clear with God. And when we do, we’ll be ready to move onto the next big decision.
The Second Decision
In an earlier study I said that when we “repent” it means that we turn around and go in the opposite direction from how we have been going. And when we turn around, we’ll be able to see the Savior standing there and beckoning us to “come”.
In the Old Testament we find many examples of God reaching out to people and asking them to “come”. In these two examples what is God asking us to come and do?
Isaiah 1:18 / Isaiah 55:1
When Jesus came to earth, He too invited us to “come”. WHO specifically did he ask and for what reason?
Matthew 11:28
Jesus was calling people to the Kingdom of God, and at the same time, He was calling them to Himself. In fact, He equated entering the Kingdom of God with becoming his disciple.
The most pious Jews were men who were the most religious in the society – the Pharisees. They could be found often in the temple, and they made a great show of strictly obeying the “rules” – some rules that were from God, but most that were their own additional rules. They lived to be seen by men and to enjoy the accolades that this brought them. But Jesus called these “religious Jews” out for their behavior. WHAT did Jesus accuse them of?
John 5:37-38
These religious men diligently studied the scriptures because they thought by doing so, they would gain eternal life. But they were refusing to come to the one person who could give them this life!
John 5:39-40, 43a
They were pouring over the writings of Moses and claiming to follow them. Yet what had they missed in their studies?
John 5:46-47
Jesus is not calling us to a religion. He is calling us to a relationship with Himself. John the Baptist told people to turn from their sins because the Messiah was coming. Now Jesus is telling us that the Son of God is here – right now –and that HE is the Messiah or our deliverer. For those who come to Jesus what does He promise them?
John 6:35, 37
Closely associated to Christ’s command to “come” is another invitation. What are we to come and then do?
John 8:12
When we come to Christ and then follow Him, He will be leading us out of the darkness and into the light. Things that were once confusing will now seem to have clarity. Things we were once uncertain about, will now be certain. This comes because our spiritual senses are being awakened and we start to see the reality of the unseen world of the Kingdom of God.
How is it that we’ll be able to follow Jesus?
John 10:27
Christ’s voice will get easier and easier to hear once we have come to Him and have made our decision to follow Him. Most of the time He’ll speak with us through His Word (the Bible). We might hear his voice in a book, a song, a sermon, a walk-in nature, a conversation, or through our conscience. But however we hear it, we’ll have a certainty that it is Christ speaking. If we aren’t absolutely certain then He’ll be glad to confirm it if we ask Him. He knows we might be fearful that we haven’t heard right. I have asked Him many times to confirm something and He has always answered that prayer for me.
A decision to follow Jesus is really a decision to serve Him and we can only serve Him when we are with Him. And for this what is our reward?
John 12:26
Jesus is asking us to follow in his footsteps. That is our second decision: to come and follow.
1 Peter 2:21
The Third Decision
Once we have repented, have come to Jesus, and are following Him, then what does He ask of us?
John 15:4
That word “abide” means to remain in Jesus or live in Him. Why does He ask us to do so?
John 15:4-5
We might think it’s obvious that once we come to Jesus, we’ll stay with Him. But Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. For example, He’ll give us an assignment that is beyond our comfort zone and we’ll have this excuse:
Exodus 3:11
Or….He’ll ask us to speak with someone and we are tongue-tied.
Exodus 4:10 / Jeremiah 1:6-7
Or….Jesus will give us something to do that we have no social position to do.
Judges 6:15
Or….we feel what He’s asking is just too dangerous and too hard.
Proverbs 22:13
Or….we’ll have the pressures of life taking up all our time.
Luke 14:18-20
Jesus is not interested in us doing things for Him, on our own. Once we come to Him, He wants to do EVERYTHING together with us. When He says in John 15:5 – “apart from me you can do nothing”, He is referring to work that will bring lasting and eternal fruit for God. That means anything we do in our own strength may have some immediate, temporal value, but nothing beyond the moment.
It is quite common that once a person has repented and gotten their lives right with God through Jesus, that they’ll then continue to try to live the Christian life in their own strength. This was the situation that the Apostle Paul found himself in.
Reread: Romans 7:18-19
“For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” Doesn’t that sum up what most of us feel who are living a carnal Christian life? We’re actually more miserable than when we were a happy, sinning, pagan!
God had revealed to Paul that there is a “law of God” (wanting to do good through us), and there is a “law of sin” within us (wanting to keep us from doing good). One law was always at war with the other law. It is the reason we can’t carry out the good that we want to do.
Galatians 5:17
God then gave Paul a revelation about another law. What was this law called?
Romans 8:1-2
And what did the “law of the Spirit of life” set Paul free from? (Romans 8:2)
A “law” is a binding rule or principle that is a recurring fact or event. It will happen without fail unless there is another law that can counteract it. For example, the law of gravity is in force all of the time on earth. If an object is dropped, it will fall to the ground --- without fail. But let’s say I am able to reach out and catch the China cup I have dropped. That becomes a stronger law than the law of gravity and therefore the China cup doesn’t reach the ground and break.
Paul had found that the “law of sin” (an inherited sin nature within himself) was the cause of him not being able to do the good that he wanted to do. He called it a law because it was always there causing him to sin. In fact, this “law of sin” living in him meant that he couldn’t do anything else but sin! In his mind, he was committed to serving God, but he knew that the sinful nature within him was literally a slave to the “law of sin”. This was the heart of his frustration and dilemma. This is the reason for our own frustrations.
God wants Paul (and us) to see that there is a higher law than the “law of sin and death”. He calls it the “law of the Spirit of life”. Notice that Spirit is capitalized because it refers to the person of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was about to leave the earth to return to Heaven what did He tell his fearful disciples?
Acts 1:4-5
And why were they to wait for this gift?
Acts 1:8
The disciples would probably have been glad to “hit the road” sooner to testify of their Lord. But Jesus knew that they would have no power to do His work without Him. They wouldn’t have the right words to say or know the right things to do without His Spirit. And then, at the first sign of trouble, they would be likely to turn and run. No, it was vital for Jesus to give them His Spirit if they were to have the power they needed to witness.
Now, Jesus gives all of his disciples (those who come to him and follow Him) the gift of His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our link with Jesus and the Father and is the key to how we stay “abiding on the vine”. He is the conduit for Christ’s life to flow into our own life. He is the wisdom and the strength we’ll need to do anything Jesus asks of us.
Therefore, our decision to “abide in Jesus” (or stay with Jesus) is a decision to accept the Holy Spirit to indwell our own human spirit. If we decide NOT to do that, what does it mean for us?
Romans 8:9
If we DO RECEIVE God’s gift of the Holy Spirit what will this mean for us?
Romans 8:10-11
Therefore, a decision to stay with Jesus (or abide in Him) is a decision to live by the means of His Spirit within us. We have no more obligation to live by our sinful nature because there is a higher law –“the law of the Spirit of life”—that can set us free from the “law of sin and death”.
Romans 8:12-13
Having the Holy Spirit indwelling us puts us in a whole new position as children of God and co-heirs with Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, we are just forgiven sinners. But with the Holy Spirit we have the life of God living within us to help us do anything that God asks of us.
Romans 8:14-17
There is nothing magical about receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. Just as we receive the forgiveness of our sins by faith, so we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit by faith. We simply ask God for His gift and then thank Him that He’s given it.
We don’t need to feel any particular feelings or sensations. You might say something like this:
“Dear Jesus, I have repented of my sins and received your gift of forgiveness. I have come to you, am following you, and want to abide in you. Therefore, I need your Spirit indwelling me. You have said you would give the Holy Spirit to all who ask (Luke 11:13). I ask you today to give me the gift of your Spirit so that I will have the power I need to stay with you and do what you ask of me. I now receive this gift by faith and give you thanks for Your precious life that now indwells my own. Amen”
Next Study: BS4- WHAT DID JESUS DO?