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Living Water

The Unhindered Gospel

Daniel Pel

Something or Someone?

A Pattern or a Person?

A Perfect Mirror

What Does God Remember?

A New Identity

Dying in Order to Live

God’s Sustaining Power

Reality Check!

Father in heaven, thank you so much for this moment.

Thank you so much that we can come before you.

And we would not want to open your word without first opening our hearts.

Lord, as we open our hearts, I pray that you will indeed speak to us as we have just sung together, and that Your Word may come alive this evening.

May it not return to you void, but accomplish that in which You please.

All right, well, take your Bibles this evening and turn with me to the book of Romans right there in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and then you get the book of Acts, and right after the book of Acts we have the book of Romans, and turn to Romans chapter 12.

We're going to be in chapter 2 and 3, but I want to first go to a verse in chapter 12 as we set the stage for our presentation this evening, Romans the 12th chapter, and take a look at verse 2.

Romans 12 and verse 2, and when you're there you can say hallelujah.

Romans chapter 12 verse 2 says, and do not be conformed to this what?

To this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." So we have the words written for us here, and these words tell us that we are not to be conformed to this world.

The Greek word for conformed, and you don't have to remember this, this is a difficult 1, I don't even know if I'm pronouncing it right, I'm not a theologian, I'm just a lay preacher, but it says, sys shematio, and I don't, you don't have to remember that, but this is what it means, and this is important.

It means to conform oneself to a pattern.

So when it says in Romans chapter 12 and verse 2, don't be conformed to this world, it says that we are not to be conformed to the pattern of this world.

And in our presentation yesterday, as we looked at a teaching from Romans chapter 1, we discovered that there is a fundamental problem with humanity.

And that fundamental problem with humanity is that we tend to worship the created thing rather than the Creator.

We tend to, our affections belong more to the things that God created than to God himself, the giver of those things.

And we used a couple of illustrations yesterday.

We talked about food, we talked about work, we talked about, you know, our physical bodies, and how we oftentimes stop at those gifts.

You know, we like good food, but we don't really always thank the giver of that.

And we like to do work, but sometimes the glory of that work goes to us and not to God.

And even physical exercise is often time abused when you look at competitive sports and things like that.

So the gift is taken out of its frame in which God has given it and what happens to that gift, that gift is perverted.

Now this is a fundamental problem that humanity is experiencing and it is displayed there in the first chapter of the Book of Romans.

Now as we turn to Romans chapter 2, and you can turn there with me, we're going to continue our study tonight, because what we are going to find out is that this is a problem that is not just a problem to those that do not know God.

As a matter of fact, this problem slips in very easily even into those that are professing to follow God.

So turn to Romans chapter 2, and I want you to take notice what it says in verse 1, Romans chapter 2 and verse 1.

If you're there, let me hear you say amen.

I don't want to move too fast, but you guys are young, you're fast.

Maybe not so fast in running, but fast in getting to the place in your Bible.

I won't teach you all week with that, you just have to prove to me that you can really exercise, okay?

Tomorrow you're going to be ready, right?

Okay Romans chapter 2 verse 1, listen to what it says.

Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for whatever you judge another you condemn yourself, for you who judge practice the same things." Now you've got to remember that when the book of Romans was written, Paul didn't write chapter 1 and said, okay, it's enough for today.

You know, I've done my homework and I'll go to bed now and tomorrow I'll write Romans chapter 2.

This was not how the letters of Paul were written.

As a matter of fact, later on, people that basically compiled the Bible together and the books together, they gave the chapter divisions in order for us to more easily find passages.

So sometimes it's very helpful as you study the Bible to kind of not think too much about those chapter divisions.

And so basically the thought of Paul is just continuing into chapter 2.

And so in chapter 1 we have this portrayal of this great human problem that there is a worship of the creator rather than the creator.

And then Paul in Romans chapter 2 and verse 1 in the continual thought he writes and he says, but you who think you're okay, you're actually in the same situation.

You that judge others, you're actually being judged yourself.

Now, what Paul does here in the Book of Romans in chapter 2 and also chapter 3 is he describes the problem of all humanity, both those that believe in God but also, or those that deny God, but also those that actually believe in God.

Now it's talking here about the Jews, but of course, you know, we could, yeah, it would be easy to narrow it down and just say, okay, that's about the Jews, so it doesn't talk about us.

But I think that the description of the Jew in Romans chapter 2 is really a description of the believer today.

I want you to take notice of as we drop down in Romans chapter 2, drop down to verse 23 and 24.

Paul writing to the people there in Rome, both to the Jews and the Gentiles, the believers and the unbelievers, and he says in verse 23, you who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?

For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." So there's a problem and the problem is not just with the unbelievers that are worshiping the Creator rather than the Creator, the problem is also within God's church.

And though you are judging the other, you're actually doing the same thing.

He goes on and he describes in the last part of the chapter, take notice of verse 28 and 29, He says, for he is not a Jew who is 1, what does it say, outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is 1, what?

Inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God.

Now, Paul is getting to something very critical here, and sometimes we can sweep away those passages and we say, well, this was in the old covenant, and it's talking here about circumcision, And those were something that the Jews used to do and this was a problem that they faced in the first century because the Jews still wanted to go on with their patterns of religion but this has little to do with me today.

And you, we can take this passage and we can apply it to us because what's the problem here?

The underlying problem that Paul is describing is that the Jews they had an outward form of religion but they lacked the inward change.

They had the outward form but they didn't have the heart, the change of heart.

And this is exactly what Paul is tapping into here and that is so relevant for you and for me.

Because we can have the right outward pattern of religion.

We can do the right things at the right time, we can go to the right places, and we can say the right things, but is there really, has God really been able to impact our hearts?

I titled this message this evening, a pattern or a person?

And that's a question that each of us has to answer.

In our walk, have we conformed to a pattern of religion or have we actually accepted a person into our lives and that person being Jesus Christ?

This is the big question that we all need to ask and in order for the gospel to go forth unhindered in your life, You must make sure that you have accepted a person and not merely a pattern.

Now we're going to kind of flesh this out and we're going to try to understand this a little bit better here.

In Romans chapter 3 and verse 23, there's a very well-known verse.

I'm sure when I read this verse that many of you will go, yes, I've heard that verse before.

It says the following, Romans chapter 3 and verse 23.

And maybe you can even finish it if I start it.

Let's see if you can do that without looking in your Bible.

For all have sinned, can anyone finish that?

So this is what Paul says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Now, it's interesting, in the book of Romans, which is this amazing picture of the gospel, Paul uses 3 chapters, the first 3 chapters, and we don't have time to read it all through, but you can go back and you can read it.

But in 3 chapters, he displays the condition of humanity and the condition of believer, or those that are following a religious pattern, he displays their condition, but he shows them how they are lacking a person, and that person is Jesus Christ.

You see, the good news of the gospel is only as good as the bad news is bad.

And that's why it's so important for Paul that first of all we understand what we are without Christ so that we actually start appreciating Christ.

You know in our world today sometimes when we do evangelism we go to people and we say Jesus saves and people say well that's fine but I don't need salvation, I don't need to be saved Because they don't understand their condition without Christ.

And so the message Jesus saves means very little if they don't understand first the condition they're in without Jesus.

And so that's why in the book of Romans, in such an amazing way, in the first chapter, the second chapter, and the third chapter, Paul describes the condition of all humanity, not just those that are denying God altogether, but even those that are following religious patterns but have not experienced the person of Christ.

And then he sums it up in chapter 3 and he says, we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

That includes everyone, every single 1 of us sitting here tonight, every single 1 of us, including myself, have fallen short.

And it's so important for us to understand this because the good news is only as good as the bad news is bad.

I'll give you 2 illustrations and I think this will help you to understand this.

Series

The Unhindered Gospel

A Pattern or a Person?

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Plenary

The One Thing Jesus Can’t Give You

55m

A Study in Hebrews

A Study in Hebrews 9: Once for All

32m

Plenary

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29m

Alistair Huong: Examining Our Motives

Why Am I A Christian?

41m

Faith and Works

Faith and Works - Part 3

32m

The True Medical Missionary

56m

Daniel Vis Weekend

02 Walking with God

35m

Faith and Works

42m

Plenary

From the Ground Up

1h

Accessing the Supernatural: From New Age to Scripture Memory

58m

The Paradoxical Prescription to Happiness

1h

GYC SE 2013 Plenary Sessions

Sin is a Four Letter Word

55m

Sound Doctrine