Unnatural living (Galatians 5:16-26)

So I say, live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Galatians 5:16

The theme of our talks from Galatians 4 to 6 is called “Unnatural.” There is something different, strange, unnatural about the Christian life. That is true from the perspective of the world, but as we will see from today’s passage, that’s also true from the Christian’s perspective. To live by the Spirit, Paul says, is something that goes against our natural instincts, what our English bible’s call the “sinful nature”.

So it might surprise you to learn that the bible is speaking to Christians about their natural instincts to sin and to rebel against God. But ultimately, Christians are not to live by that nature. God has freed us from slavery to sin but he has also done something else. He has put his Spirit in us enabling us to live in obedience to him. That’s the main focus of today’s passage: What it means to live by the Spirit. What that Spirit-filled, Spirit-empowered life looks like.

We will see three things in today’s passage: the struggle, the sinful nature and the fruit of the Spirit.

1. The struggle

For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

Galatians 5:17

One reason why we are afraid confessing sin is fear of embarrassment. “What would my friends think if they knew that I had this sin in my life?” Especially when it is a sin that we are struggling with - it keeps coming back again and again. So we try to hide it from our friends, even from God, because we think that struggling in this way means failure.

Paul says that the very fact that you are struggling with your sinful nature and not giving in to sin is evidence of the Spirit’s presence in your lives. The fact that you still wrestle in prayer, “God help me to overcome this sin and this temptation. God please change my desires to live for you and not for myself.” Paul calls this a conflict - a war - between the Spirit of God and the flesh of man.

It means that this is what the real Christian life looks like. It’s a struggle. The Spirit is at war with our sinful nature. It is not the guy who looks as if he has everything under control - no temptations, no struggles with his conscience - such a person is either faking it, or worse, he isn’t a Christian.

1 John 1:8 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” The difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is not that one’s a sinner and the other isn’t. No, the difference is that the Christian is a forgiven sinner. The very next verse reads, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Do you believe that? That if you came to Jesus right now and said sorry; that if you brought before him all the horrible, shameful, wicked things you have done just this week, Jesus would forgive you; and more than that, he would purify you from all unrighteousness. You would walk away free and forgiven. Do believe you could do that right now and leave justified through the blood of Jesus?

The point is: Some of us think that we need to fake it here in church. We think that it’s expected of us when we come here on Sundays - to look presentable, to serve in Sunday School, to be an example to the kids.

And maybe we’ve never read a passage like this which says that it is that struggle with sin that proves you’re a Christian. That proves that God’s Spirit is working inside of you to bring you to repentance and prayer and trust in him.

And rather, it’s those who don’t have the Spirit who don’t have this problem of sinning and then hiding it from their friends. They think that God doesn’t see. They think that because their friends think they’re a good Christian it means they’re a good Christian, when in reality they are in denial. Or as John puts it, they deceive themselves and the truth is not in them.

That’s the first thing see in this passage: a struggle between the Spirit of God and the sinfulness of man. And I think what Paul does next is help us to get real with that struggle. He lists out for us the acts of the sinful nature.

2. The sinful nature

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, selfish ambition, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

Galatians 5:19-20

Right after this we will be looking at the fruit of the Spirit where we get another list. That’s the list Christian’s like to memorise and hang up on their walls. I have yet to see someone hang this list up on their bedroom wall - The Thirteen Acts of the Sinful Nature.

But it’s here for a reason. This is our sinful nature. Some translations use the word, “flesh,” that is, it’s part of our DNA.

What we often do is look at a list like this and start condemning the world out there, “All those sexual immoral people; all those idolaters; all those drunken alcoholics. I’m glad I’m in here in the church.” And we might even point to verse 21, “Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” It’s those other guys who do these horrible things who won’t get in.

And what happens is that we forget that we, too, have a sinful nature. Verse 21 begins with Paul saying, “I warn you.” You guys need to watch yourselves, that you don’t do these things. You have a sinful nature, too.”

Again, it’s that denial of sin that keeps us from taking this list seriously; from actually memorising this list - not just the one that comes after that talks about love, joy, peace and patience - but acknowledging that we need to be watchful of our own tendencies to sin.

The first on the list is sexual immorality. What you do with your physical bodies matters to God. The bible is clear that sex is to be enjoyed between a man and a woman exclusively in marriage. Anything outside of that is what the bible calls sexual immorality. Impurity and debauchery just widens scope to include pornography, adultery or sleeping with someone who isn’t your husband or wife.

Then we have idolatry and witchcraft. Idolatry is worshipping something as God that isn’t God. It can be a statue of Kuan Yin in the temple. It can be your work, your money and your health. Anything that we put before God and treat as God, that’s idolatry.

Witchcraft makes us think of movies like Harry Potter, but the Greek word pharmakeia is where we get the English word “pharmacy”. It’s describing poisons and drugs that can cause harm. The two - idolatry and witchcraft - go together in that the worship of a false God doesn’t just destroy you, it harms those around you. Pharmakeia is the action of producing poison and while that can describe Professor Snape’s potions in Harry Potter, it can also describe the drug dealer who worships money and produces substances that kill, it can describe the corrupt executive who worships success and is willing sell merchandise that are harmful to the consumer for the sake of profit.

Hatred, discord, jealousy, selfish ambition, factions and envy. It’s again tempting to think of examples “out there,” but what about right here in the church? Is it possible to lift up your hands worshipping God with your voice while at the same time you are hating your brother or sister who is just next to you; your heart is going, “I can’t stand that person”? Is it possible to serve together on the same team but use ministry as a stepping stone to get your agenda across? Come on! Of course it is. We did a bible study on this passage this week at Rock Fellowship and the first thing that came out a sister’s mouth when I asked, “What do you think of when you read this?” - her very first words were, “Church politics.”

Can we get real for a moment? We struggle with this. I struggle with this - hatred, discord, jealousy, ambition. We have to call it what it is. It’s sin. Now later on, we’ll see that we don’t deal with sin just by focusing on sin, we focus on Jesus. But many of us are in denial over our sin. We think sin is something that’s out there when it’s in here in our lives and we need forgiveness for our sin when we come before our Saviour. It means that church leaders mess up and when they do, the solution is not to cover up but to confess to Jesus, not act like it’s not a big deal.

The list ends with drunkenness, orgies and the like. I would replace “orgies” with partying. Are you the kind of guy who knows how to have a good time? Just because you are in University and all your friends are out partying on a Friday night; just because you have that freedom and opportunity to stay out as long as you want; doesn’t mean that you should. I know there’s a part of you that says, “I’m young now, I need to enjoy life, I know my limits, I am free to make my own choices.” And what I am saying to you is: Can you distinguish the voice of your conscience from the voice of your sinful nature?

Now the reason why Paul calls this list the actions or the works of the sinful nature is because our actions reveal who we are listening to. Get this, the point is not whether or not you have a sinful nature - we all do. Rather the reason for this list is for us to get real about whether we are following that nature or following the Spirit. And Paul begins the list by saying, “It’s obvious.” The acts of the sinful nature are obvious. When you look at the things you are doing in your life, our actions which can be seen reveal our motives which are unseen.

And Paul ties up this list by saying in verse 21, “I warn you, as I did before, that those who live in this way,” - literally, those who do these things (hoi ta toiauta prassontes) - “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” It is your actions; what you’re doing, that reveal who you are listening to and where you are headed.

The sinful nature produces sinful actions which are obvious, says Paul, but in contrast, the Spirit shapes your character. It literally changes, not just what you do, but who you are to be like Jesus. This, according to verse 22, is the fruit of the Spirit.

3. The fruit of the Spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

Earlier on, we saw thirteen actions of the sinful nature. (Paul even adds the words, “And the like,” meaning there could be lots more.) But here we see just one fruit.

Why is this important? If you have the Spirit, you will produces all nine characteristics of this fruit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control - because they all form one fruit. All of them should be present in some degree and form in your life.

To be loving means to seek another person’s good at the expense of yourself. To be joyful means you have found something of true value and meaning to pour out your love upon, such that even if circumstances are tough and you might be suffering, your joy still remains because your treasure still remains. To be peaceful means your relationship with God is rock solid - your conscience is clear; and therefore you are always seeking to reconcile others who aren’t at peace with God, we who aren't at peace with their friends or with themselves.

To be patient means you’re not someone who’s quick to get angry; some translations have “long-suffering,” meaning, it’s painful when others sin against you, but you are still keeping your cool. To be kind and good is another way of saying that you are generous and merciful; you are actively looking serve others whether or not they deserve your help and generosity. To be faithful means that you are trustworthy; you are dependable; you are reliable. To be gentle means you respond to sin the way God does; you don’t condemn, but you want to forgive. In Galatians 6:1, Paul says, “Brothers, if someone is caught in sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.” Finally, the self-controlled means that you do have temptations; your sinful nature is still there, but you are not using that as an excuse to sin. It’s your life, your actions are your responsibility and you are keeping a check on your behaviour and actions.

Nine characteristics but just one fruit. You can’t pick and choose. All of them are present in the life of the Christian.

But then Paul rounds of this list by saying, “Against such things there is no law.” Think with me for a moment: Why does he say that?

If you have been following our series through Galatians the past few months, you might know the answer. Throughout the letter of Galatians, Paul has been telling us that there is a big difference between the law and the gospel. The law tells us what we need to do. The gospel tells us what God has done.

That’s really, really, really, really important because the fruit of the Spirit is something that Spirit does. That’s why it’s called fruit. It is a result of trusting in the cross of Jesus Christ.

And after giving us this list of nine character traits, Paul wants us to be absolutely clear - You don’t get saved by doing these things. You don’t get saved by being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled.

If we don’t get this we make the mistake of thinking that Sunday School is about teaching kids how to be good. If we don’t get this we make the mistake of thinking bible study is about how to be loving. If we don’t get this we make the mistake of thinking worship is about us trying to make our way up to God.

You can’t legislate people into being good and loving. The best you can do is enact laws that keep people from doing evil and acting out their sinful tendencies. That’s why the acts of the sinful nature are obvious. You can come up with a new rule every day on what shouldn’t be done. But if you try to do that with Christianity, you don’t understand the gospel. It’s not about what you do, but what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. In verse 24, Paul brings us back to the cross to remind us of that.

Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:24

This is how you deal with sin, you bring it to the cross. Paul began in verse 16, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Meaning, keep your eyes on the Spirit not on your sinful nature; keep your eyes on Jesus, not on your sin.

In other words, the fruit of the Spirit is really the fruit of the gospel. It is the by-product of trusting in Jesus for our justification and our sanctification. The point of having a list like this is not be burdensome - to check up on Christians, “Are you loving, peaceful, patient?” - these are not rules are reflections of God’s presence in our lives. He has put his Spirit in us!

Keeping in step with the Spirit

Think about that for a moment. God who is holy and awesome and gracious and loving, lives inside this human body. Let that sink in!

The Spirit is mentioned seven times in this passage, don’t miss that. God’s Holy Spirit is literally inside this body. He’s not just up there in heaven, he is right here with us; he is right here inside of us. That is an awesome thought!

And yet, if that is true, why is that we still sin? Why is it that, at times, we still live as if God didn’t put his Spirit in us? It’s our sinful nature. The bible says that there’s that part of us that is at war with God. That’s the whole point of this passage, to open our eyes to that struggle.

Paul keeps saying to us, “Live by the Spirit. You are led by the Spirit.” That is, he is telling us that we need to be consciously seeking to be obedient to God at every moment. In verse 24, it means coming back again and again to the cross to be forgiven and restored. But the way he puts it in verse 25 is to say that following the Spirit is like marching to a rhythm.

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:25

It’s saying that life has a rhythm, a pace, a momentum to it. It’s saying that what matters aren’t just the big decisions - career, marriage, where you’re going to live, what huge siginificant thing you are going to do with your life. If we think that way, we are still thinking in terms of the law; in terms of things we have to do.

Yet Paul says you live by the Spirit by keeping in step with the Spirit. What does that mean?

Years ago when I joined the music team at my church in Singapore, I had learned an invaluable lesson: Listening to others and playing together as a team. I thought that since I had been playing the piano for years; since I’d been playing in my student fellowship for years, it was not a problem playing in this church and I was so wrong!

When you’re playing by yourself it’s just you and the music score. You just play. But when you are playing as a team, you are listening out for the voices, for the other instruments. In particular, you are listening out for the drums, because the drums keep everyone in step and in sync.

I remember how much I hated it when my music coordinator would point me and say, “Piano and bass; play!” “Piano and drums; play!” She would isolate each pair of instruments and force us to play each piece over and over again, not so that we would get our parts individually, but so that as we played our parts, we were in sync with the other instruments. So that we were listening to one another.

It’s the same in our Christian lives. There is a rhythm to this life and God’s Spirit is prompting us to always seek him every step of the way, such that He is setting the pace, He is setting the direction, He is leading us. And it shows, not just in our actions, but in our character.

That’s the point of the nine characteristics of the Spirit - to be loving at all times, to be peaceful at times, to be joyful in all situations - not just in the big life decisions and the rest of the time you are a totally different person. No, you are constantly seeking to live out your life rooted in the gospel, standing at the cross, keeping in step with the Spirit.

And just in case we forget that, Paul slips in verse 26.

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 6:26

Did Paul forget something from the list of sinful actions? Is that why he says, “Don’t be conceited”?

No, the reason is Paul knows that even this can be turned into a law; into a work that we do. “Look at me, I’m following the Spirit.” “Check this out, my church is sooo loving!”

And Paul is saying, “Don’t use this as another burden to lay on people’s shoulders.” It’s sad when we use godliness as a cover-up for putting people down in the church; as a way of making people feel small. That’s not the gospel.

The gospel is about Christ taking our burdens of sin, death and judgement. The gospel is about Christ freeing us from slavery to sin and restoring us as sons.

So each time we hear this gospel, we hear Christ calling us to come to the cross and lay down our burdens; to confess our sins - the things we have done against God this week, the things we have left undone for God this week - and ask that he cover us with his righteousness and empower us by his Spirit to live by his grace. Each time we hear this gospel, we hear Christ calling us to lay down our lives and pick up our cross and follow him.

In our closing song, we sing these words:

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone

And live so all might see

The strength to follow Your commands

Could never come from me.

Oh Father, use my ransomed life

In any way You choose.

And let my song forever be

My only boast is You.

Let us pray,

Father, use our ransomed lives in any way you choose
and let our only boast be in You.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

What happens when a Christian sins?

But if, in our endeavour to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.

Galatians 2:17-18

What happens when a Christian sins? That’s the question Paul raises in verse 17 - “If... we too were found to be sinners?” He isn’t talking about the non-believer who doesn’t know Jesus. He isn’t talking about the backslider who has turned his back on Christ. No, these are genuine Christians who are “endeavour(ing) to be justified in Christ,” - who are living day-by-day trusting in Jesus, following Jesus and loving Jesus - who are the same people who then fall into sin.

Literally, the phrase means “found out” (heurethemen - discovered). Meaning, not simply, that your friends point it out to you (“Aha! I saw what you did!”), but more so, that you are aware of a particular sin in your own life - an ongoing struggle with temptation, perhaps; or a serious wrong that you have committed against your own conscience and against God.

What do you do then with your sin as a Christian? How are you likely to react to your sin as a believer?

What Paul says next is personal, practical and real. He says to us: You are going to be tempted to do one of two things. You are either going to excuse it or justify it.

Excusing our sin

The first common reaction to sin is to try and excuse it. Paul says to the Christian, “Is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!” What he is saying is: Just because you know that Jesus died on the cross for your sin does not mean you have a free pass to keep on sinning. You need to stop. You need to repent - that is, to turn away from your sin and to face up to God. In fact, it even means that if the sin that you’ve committed is a crime punishable by law, you need to submit yourself to that punishment.

Now, when Paul asks the question, “Is Christ then a servant of sin?” it’s not as strange a question as you might think. When someone gets the gospel for the first time, it always sounds too good to be true. God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins in our place - while we were still sinners. He died to pay for all our sins - past, present and future. Many people are going to hear that and think it is a con. They are going to think, “What’s the catch?” Why? Because it sounds too good to be true. It sounds like God is handing out a blank cheque. It that really happened, what would stop us from taking advantage of God’s generosity and abusing it?

And it needs to be said, that is a real temptation for us as Christians - to take God’s grace for granted and to use it as an excuse to keep on sinning. Paul says, “Certainly not!” That’s the attitude we need to take towards our sin, “No way am I doing that!” “No way am I going to use Jesus as an excuse to keep on cheating on my wife.” “No way am I going to use my church attendance as a cover up for my greed.” Paul is serious about sin, but it is because Paul is even more serious about Jesus. No way is Jesus to be used as an excuse, a free-pass, a licence to sin against other people, against our conscience, against God. No way.

So, that’s the first temptation for the Christian who has fallen into sin: to excuse it, to minimise it or to take it for granted. But the second temptation is the one he really wants us to sit up and take notice of. It is the temptation to justify that sin.

Justifying our sin

For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.

Galatian 2:18

Paul gets personal. If I rebuild; what I tore down; I prove myself (literally, establish myself) as a sinner. Paul is speaking from his experience of struggle with his own sin and openly confesses, “Here is what I am most tempted to do with my sin: To justify it.”

If you have a bible, it’s worth looking back to the context of his argument in Galatians Chapter 2, especially beginning with verses 11 onwards where he mentions the apostle Peter’s visit to Antioch. You see, there, Paul confronts Peter’s sin in public. What was it that Peter did that was so horrible and so serious that Paul had to bring it up on Sunday morning in church in front of all his friends and family? Did Peter embezzle the church funds? Did Peter run away with his secretary? Well no, it was none of that, actually. All Peter did was he stopped hanging out with the non-Jewish friends after church. He was afraid, Paul tells us, of the “circumcision group”, that is, Peter was afraid that word would get around that he was breaking the traditional Jewish laws by mixing with Gentiles (non-Jews) and this would result in problems for the Christians back in Jerusalem. He was afraid that members of the “circumcision group” would use his behaviour as an excuse to carry out hate-crimes against the church in Jerusalem.

So, if you think about it, Peter was acting out of love, out of concern and out of consideration for his brothers and sisters in his home church. Paul saw things quite differently: Peter was acting out of fear. In itself, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that out of fear, Peter decided he would turn to the law instead of gospel, to deal with his fear.

Again, we might read this and say, “What’s the big deal?” Peter didn’t break any laws. Peter didn’t hurt anyone. What was the big deal?

The reason we say that is because we think that sin means law-breaking. That’s the most common understanding of what sin is: It’s breaking a set of rules. We think that sin means breaking the law. But notice how Paul defines sin quite differently here. Look at what he says in verse 18: “For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.” What is he saying? With respect to the law, it’s not the person who breaks the law who is the sinner, it’s actually the person who tries to keep the law. That’s a surprising definition to find, of all places, in the bible, isn’t it? Here is a verse that defines the sinner - the transgressor, as Paul puts it - not as the lawbreaker but the lawmaker.

“If I rebuild what I tore down,” Paul says. Remember that Paul used to be a Pharisee. He was the Hebrew of Hebrews, who kept the law, perfectly. This was a guy who memorised Genesis to Deuteronomy, word for word. This a guy who knew the rules, who lived by the rules, who enforced the rules. But when Paul became a Christian, he considered everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord, for whose sake he lost all things (Philippians 3:8). What does that mean - to consider everything a loss? (He even calls it “rubbish” - a euphemism, as the word he actually uses much, much more offensive than trash)

What is he referring to? Paul is talking about his confidence in his own track record. That’s what the law represents. For Paul the Pharisee, the law was a way to fix things. But for Paul the Christian, he had come to realise that the law was never meant to fix anything. It was only there to uncover our brokenness and sin. The only solution that God has given us for our sin is Jesus. His death on the cross pays the full penalty of sin and credits our account with the full benefits of his righteousness.

Looking to our Saviour

As Christians we know that. But Paul is saying to us, we tend to forget; and the times when we are most tempted to forget is when we sin. We look to the law for a way to make up for our sin. We look to the law for a solution that will allow us to pay for our sin. We look to the law for a means to feel better about our sin. But all the law does is condemn us of our sin. What does Paul say again? “If I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.”

To turn back to the law, after having known Jesus and trusted in his salvation by grace through faith alone, is to establish ourselves firmly in our guilt as sinners. It is, in effect, to say to Jesus, “Thanks for dying on the cross for me, but I’ll take it from here.” Paul says, “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21)

And yet, don’t miss the fact that Paul is speaking about his own sin and his own struggles with sin. Verse 19: “For through the law, I died to the law so that I might live for God.” Verse 20: “The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.” Verse 21: “I do not set aside the grace of God...”

Why does Paul get so personal here? Just a few verses earlier, Paul had been talking about Peter’s sin of hypocrisy, of fear of man, of compromising the gospel - and Paul mentions how he confronts Peter of his sin. But you see, Paul is confronting sin in a brother’s life not with the law, but with the gospel. And Paul then turns and says to us, “Quite frankly, the only difference between Peter and myself is the grace of God.”

I met a pastor a few years back who was in a counselling situation with someone who had committed a horrible sin. “How could he do that?” he said to me. “How could a Christian sin like that against someone he loves?” Over the years, as friends have shared with me their struggles with sin, I admit that at times, I have been tempted to say the exact same thing, “How could this happen? How could you let this happen?”

This passage from Galatians soberly reminds me that as I encounter sin in another believer’s life, I should be all the more aware of my own sinfulness and I should be all the more aware of the overwhelming grace of God available through Jesus Christ. Like Paul, I should be able to say, “There, but the grace of God, go I.”

If you are a non-Christian, you need to know that the only thing differentiating you and me is not our sin. We are both sinners. That is not to say, however, that there is no difference between the Christian and the non-Christian. We are both sinners, yes, but God has forgiven the sin of the Christian. He has done this not based on the law, not based on the track-record of the believer, not based on the goodness of the Christian, but purely out of his grace towards sinners. Sinners, like you and me.

But if you are a Christian, and you know this gospel - this message of free grace and forgiveness - what this passage is saying to us is: Don’t be surprised by sin. Don’t be surprised by sin - whether it is sin in others or sin in your own life - to the point that when sin happens, you are tempted to excuse your sin or justify your sinfulness. Instead confess your sin to God. Turn to Jesus alone who died for your sin and rose for your justification. There is forgiveness and restoration at the cross.

Most important of all, don’t wait till you are caught in a serious situation of sin before you start looking to Jesus as your Saviour. For Paul, apostle though he was, the reason he was aware for his struggles and sinfulness, wasn’t because he was constantly absorbed with himself. It wasn’t because he was vigilantly looking out for this or that trace of sin. Quite the opposite actually, Paul was constantly focussed on one thing: Jesus. All his life, Paul never got over the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross for him, a sinner. Every day, Paul looked to his Saviour. Every day Paul was conscious of Jesus’s sacrifice, “The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me!” And Paul knew, that in Christ, he was fully accepted; that in Christ, he was absolutely loved.

Alas, and did my Saviour bleed

And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For such a worm as I?

Was it for sins that I had done

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity, grace unknown

And love beyond degree

My God, why would You shed Your blood

So pure and undefiled

To make a sinful one like me

Your chosen, precious child?

(“Alas, and did my Saviour bleed,” original words by Isaac Watts, additional words by Bob Kauflin, Sovereign Grace Music)

Go for Gold (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

Don’t you know?

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?

1 Corinthians 9:24

Some are excited and can’t stop talking about it. Others can’t wait for it to be over and done with. Whichever camp you’re in, one thing is for sure: You can’t ignore the Olympics. Not if you are sports fan, and definitely not, if you’re living in the UK.

We are just six days away from the opening ceremony where 80,000 athletes, officials and spectators from all over the world will gather at the Olympic Stadium in London. The event has been choreographed by Danny Boyle, famous for his directorial work in movies like Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire. Four years went into the construction of the stadium alone and some twenty-four billion pounds have gone into sponsoring the games as a whole.

Speaking as someone who isn’t a big fan of sports (and who definitely isn’t a big fan of large crowds), it’s been hard to understand what the big fuss has been all about. To be honest, it has even been a cause for concern. The Summer Holiday Club, an annual camp for kids of primary school age, has as its theme this year, “Go for Gold”, and I have been rather cautious of its emphasis on competition and achievement. The theme seemed to suggest that we could achieve our salvation by sheer effort; that Jesus rewards eternal to those who try hard and finish first. It worried me that this ran against the grain of the bible’s teaching that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

But then I read this passage...

This passage from 1 Corinthians where the apostle Paul begins by saying, “Don’t you know...” And what he is doing is using the illustration of sports to bring home the message of salvation. “Don’t you know...” implies that his hearers, the Christians in the city of Corinth, did know what he was talking about. And if I am to take the bible seriously, I too, ought to try and understand what he was talking about.

Paul was referring to the Isthmian Games, a huge sporting event held every two years in the city of Corinth which attracted thousands of fans from all over the Roman Empire. When he talks about running, athletic training and boxing, Paul was describing key events from the games but used these sports as illustrations for the Christian life and moreover, for Christian ministry. And I think Paul would have had no qualms saying to us today, “Look at the Olympic athlete. Look at the Olympic games. Don’t you know? There is something in these games that teach us a great deal about how we are to live our lives significantly for the gospel; to live our lives purposefully for Jesus Christ.”

I want to highlight three points from this passage - three illustrations the bible takes from the sporting arena - and apply them our lives as Christians today.

(1) Running to win the prize

(2) Training to get a crown

(3) Preaching to win others, but also, preaching to ourselves

1. Running to win the prize

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. Run in such a way as to get the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:24

What is troubling about this illustration is the contrast between the all and the one. All compete; all run; all take part in the race; but in the end, only one wins the gold. One guy gets “the prize,” as Paul puts it.

But that isn’t Paul’s point. The NIV slightly obscures this by saying, “Run in such a way as to get the prize,” but the word “prize” isn’t repeated in the original. Paul just says, “Run this way.” In fact, I think what he is saying is, “Keep on running this way.” It is a call to perseverance. It is a reminder to keep pressing on - to keep going on - until we reach the finish line. That’s the nature of prize he is describing. It is something that awaits us only at the end. It is an end goal that shapes the way we run the race.

To back this up, let me point you to what Paul says in Philippians.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14

It is the same picture of the race. It is the same goal of winning the prize (Paul uses same word in Greek - “brabeion”). And it is the exact same attitude of pressing on and keeping on all the way to the end. Paul uses this picture of the runner straining towards the finish line to describe the life of someone who has been saved in Jesus Christ. That’s important. He is not talking about someone who is trying to save himself. He is not talking about someone who is more deserving to be saved. No, Paul is, rather paradoxically, describing someone who has already been saved. Notice how he says, “I’m not perfect, I’m not there yet, instead I’m pressing on take hold of this prize,” and then adds, “which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” What is he saying? He is saying that the prize is Jesus - he is trying to take hold of Jesus, but at the same time, Jesus has taken hold of him. Meaning Jesus has saved him. Meaning even, that Jesus regards the believer whom he has given his life for, as his prize.

If we understand that Jesus has taken hold of us; that Jesus has done everything in salvation to bring us to God; we will do everything in our lives to take hold of Jesus. Not to earn his love, but as a response to his love. To the outsider, it will look like a strain. To the spectator, the runner looks like he is out to get the gold. But for the Christian, his life and her life will be characterised by an ever-growing passion, an ever-deepening desire to seek God’s glory.

Eric Liddell was once asked how he won the 400m gold at the Olympics, and he said this:

“I run the first 200m as hard as I can. Then, for the second 200m, with God's help, I run harder.”

Paul says, “Run this way.” Some of us are in the first 200m of our lives. We still have a long way to go. Don’t give up.

Others are in the home stretch. You can see the finish line. You hear God calling you to himself. Paul is saying to you, Don’t waste it. Run even harder. Keep your eyes on Jesus. He is your prize.

2. Training to get the crown

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

1 Corinthians 9:25

The second example Paul uses from the sports world is the strict training every athlete undergoes in preparation for the games. You can’t just turn up at the Olympics having had fish and chips and Snicker bars every day of the week for the entire year; walk up to Usain Bolt, and say to him, “You’re going down!” Everyone who competes goes into strict training, says Paul. The stuff you eat, the things you do, the places you hang out, even the time at which you go to sleep; everything in your life changes when you are in preparation mode for the games. Why? The athletes do it for a medal but Paul says we have something even better - a crown that will never perish or fade.

In 2 Timothy 4, Paul writes about this crown near the end of his life.

For I am ready to be poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:6-8

This is one of the reasons why I don’t think Paul was saying there was only one prize up for grabs for the Christian, because here he says that Jesus will award him a crown of righteousness, but not only for him, “but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” What is this crown? To be honest, I don’t know. It could be a way of describing salvation itself, or a kind of reward that comes with salvation. In the book of Revelation, Jesus speaks to the seven churches but has special praise for two of those churches - Smyrna and Philadelphia - and to these two faithful churches, the risen Lord Jesus Christ promises the crown of life. It is his reward to Christians who have stuck with him through thick and thin. The sense that I do get here from Paul is that the crown that Jesus will reward us with will make the hard training worthwhile. The athlete’s glory with fade, ours won’t.

Training isn’t easy. Paul literally says that the athlete exercises self-control in all things (ESV). It means cutting out anything that is harmful or just plain unhelpful. In verse 27, he says, “I beat my body and make it my slave.” The Christian life is a struggle with selfish desires and sinful tendencies, and at times, it can seem as if you are at war with your own self. Even though Christ has done away with the penalty of death; there is therefore, now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1); and even though we have been set free from the law of sin and death and now live under grace, assured that all that needs to be done to effect our salvation has been achieved by Jesus on the cross; yet at the same time, the bible still urges us as Christians not to offer up ourselves up to sin. To the extent that John can even write of Christians, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” In this life, we will still struggle with our sinful nature. In this life, we will still have to turn back again and again to the cross and ask for forgiveness. In this life, we will still have to exercise self control in all things - money, relationships, work, sex, sport, food, TV, shopping, the Internet, politics, speech, thought, the stuff we do, the stuff we don’t do - everything single thing that comes our way. The athlete exercises self-control in all things. The Greek word for the athlete or competitor is agonizomai, where we get "agony"; exercising self-control can be painful. We agonise over our sin.

Where Paul says, “I beat my body,” he literally says, “I give it a black eye.” That’s pretty extreme language. Now notice, at this point, he isn’t just telling us what to do, he is talking about his own personal struggle, “This is what I do. This is my fight and I’m out to win.” Paul may have been an apostle. He was a leader in the church. He was personally called by Jesus to bring the gospel to the nations. But he still struggled with sin - his own sin, mind you - and he didn’t take chances. He knew that his sinful nature was always trying to take over. He knew the temptation of giving up and giving in.

What do you do when that happens? For each one of us, it might take different forms. Some of us struggle with sexual temptation - clicking on that Internet link, glancing at that ad on TV. Some of us struggle with anger - lashing out at our friends, taking out our frustrations behind the wheel. Some of us struggle with greed - that insatiable need for more; to make that quick extra buck on the side. Some of us struggle with approval - the number of likes on our Facebook post. What do you do? Do you even recognise it as a struggle? Or is it easier just to give in? Paul gives himself a black eye. When anger or lust or greed or vanity rises up in his heart, he recognises it for what it is - his sinful nature - and he takes it on. He enslaves it and brings it under his control.

3. Preaching to others, preaching to ourselves

Finally, Paul says to us, there is a point to this struggle. The point is, to paraphrase Paul, “So that I don’t fool myself; that I myself, will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:26-27

I find it is a scary thing, what Paul says here. He is saying that it is possible to preach the gospel to win the lost but still be ourselves, lost to the gospel. You see, this happens when we ourselves aren’t running in the race. This happens when all we are doing is coaching others to live for Jesus, but we aren’t living for Jesus. This happens when we tell others about their sin, but are blind to our own sinful nature. In other words, this happens when we are complacent. We don’t struggle. We take it easy and make it hard for other Christians. Paul says that if he did that, he would be disqualifying himself from the race.

What is it that would disqualify Paul from this race and from this prize? It is important to note, that Paul isn’t saying that he is worried he might commit some gross, despicable sin - though complacency of one’s sinful nature is one of the easiest ways for a Christian leader to fall prey to their temptations and the work of the devil. No, it isn’t even something as serious as that which would disqualify Paul. Rather, it is simply this: that he hasn’t lived his life fully for Jesus. That is enough to disqualify him from the prize.

He says, “Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly.” What is he saying? He is saying that his life has one purpose and one goal: It is Jesus. “I do not fight like a man beating the air,” which means when he gets in the ring, he knows he has an opponent to defeat. In short, Paul is living a purpose-driven life. Not aimlessly, not whacking at nothingness; but focussed on Jesus, coming back again and again to Jesus for strength to fight his sin, consciously planning his life around what Jesus wants him to do, speaking and acting in such a way as to give Jesus all the glory every moment of his life. And in the end, the prize he looks forward to is getting Jesus.

The Summer Holiday Club poster says, “Life is a race, run for Jesus. Go for Gold.” I think that is a wonderful theme to get the gospel across to kids and adults alike, provided we make one important clarification. We don’t run to get the gold - to get something - from Jesus. Jesus is the gold. We run to get Jesus.

And for us who are helping out at this holiday club as song-leaders, classroom-teachers and assistants, organisers, cooks and helpers, the bible is saying to us, “Are you in the race? You who are preaching to others that they ought to give their lives to Jesus, are you living for him?” When the kids look at you and me, will they see us running, training, preparing, fighting, giving ourselves black-eyes, straining towards the finish line, longing for the crown of life, growing in our passion and devotion to Jesus? Will their parents?

Oh, they may only see the strain. They may think it’s one big struggle. That’s the perspective of some spectators who look on and puzzle themselves asking, “Why the big deal? Why bother with this race at all?” The athletes do it for a crown that perishes and fades, we as Christians know what lies in store for us is a crown that will never perish or fade. And when we tell them the gospel, we are telling them that Jesus is worth it. We are simply pressing on to take hold of that for which Christ has taken hold of me, in the hope that one day we will be able to say together with Paul, “I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award me on that day - and not only for me, but for all who have longed for his appearing.”

Life is a race. Run for Jesus. He is our Gold.

Wake up and smell the Jesus (Ephesians 5:3-20)

Back in college, I used to bunk in a room with three other guys. We’d go to lectures together, eat our meals together, revise for our exams together, and then stay up late chatting over cups of Milo together. This meant, though, that we always had problems waking up in the morning. None of us could get up on time, even though we all had alarm clocks. We would set them, our alarm clocks would start ringing, but then we would immediately turn it off and go back to bed, thinking that the other guy’s alarm would still wake us up. As a result, we were often late. Together.

In today’s passage, the bible is telling us that we need to wake up. It is saying that some of us go through life like sleepyheads. We make unwise decisions and choose foolish paths simply because we are unconscious. Meaning, we coast through life. We don’t take advantage of the opportunities given to us. We waste our time, not realising that we are wasting our lives. As Chinese philosopher and thinker, Bruce Lee, once said, “If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” (Whhooaaaaaah!!) The bible says the same thing:

Be careful then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.

Ephesians 5:15-16

In particular, the bible says we need to be wise about three things: sin, secretiveness and the Spirit. Those are the three points from our passage today. We need to be aware of sin - how destructive it is but also, how deceptive sin is. We need to be wise about secretiveness - about hiding our sin, putting on an act and covering our sin instead of confessing our sin. Finally, we need to be filled with the Spirit - a way of saying, that we need to actively seek out God’s will for our lives and encourage others to do the same.

Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

Ephesians 5:3-4

The first thing the apostle Paul deals with is sin. He warns Christians about sinful actions - sexual immorality, impurity, greed. he also singles out sinful speech - obscenity, foolish talk, coarse joking. Yet the word he uses to describe these sinful actions isn’t “sin”. They are bad, yes; they are destructive, definitely. Instead, the person who does all these things isn’t just the bad guy; the sinful man. Paul says such a man is an idolater.

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person - such a man is an idolater - has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Ephesians 5:5

Meaning, Paul is calling the sinful man an idol worshipper. He is saying that when you sin - whether with your body, mind or speech - you are no different from the guy bowing down at the temple with joss-sticks before idols. That’s surprising for many of us to hear. We expect the bible to condemn the sinner by saying that he has broken the rules; he has offended God. And indeed, one aspect of sin is all about turning against God in defiance and rebellion, and saying to him, “Get lost!” But another important way the bible pictures sin is the replacement of God, is the setting up of a counterfeit God. We look for our identity, fulfilment and satisfaction in something else other than God. That happens in temples, before statues of Kuan Yin - idols of deities, to whom we might offer incense, money or devotion. But that also happens in the Grand Arcade, before the gods of All Saints, Three Mobile and the Apple Store, in which we exchange our money and our time for a new look or a better phone plan. Both are essentially the same thing - the worship of idols. We turn away from God to look elsewhere for our fulfilment and meaning in life.

So, when you go back and read how Paul says these things are “improper” for God’s holy people (verse 3), he doesn’t mean “goody-two shoes”. To be holy means to be different. To be distinctive. To be exclusive to God and God alone. One important mark of this difference is therefore, thanksgiving. Verse 4: “Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse-joking, but rather, thanksgiving.” We are acknowledging God in his goodness and his blessing to us, not because we are deserving but because he is a merciful and generous God. That is distinctive worship. That’s what Christians do when they gather as God’s people on Sundays and in small groups. They recognise God for who he is what he has done for us in Jesus Christ. And that’s what Christians do when they do get that iPhone or those new pair of jeans from All Saints - sorry, to imply that you can’t ever shop in the Grand Arcade - but your distinctiveness is seen not in where you shop but how you shop. You are conscious of God’s grace. You are thankful for God’s goodness. You are giving glory to God when you receive his good gifts.

Here as Paul addresses the serious issue of sin, we need to hear his note of concern. This isn’t an angry schoolteacher telling off some students for goofing off at the back of the class. This is a concerned parent. This is a loving pastor saying to a group of Christians, “You guys don’t know what serious harm you’re doing when you sin. You don’t get it - the more you sin, the more you are fooled into thinking that it doesn’t matter that you sin.”

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

Ephesians 5:6

“It is no big deal!” That’s the excuse we give whenever we’re confronted with a sinful action or behaviour. Such words are empty words, and yet we are tempted to believe them. They convince us that God doesn’t care how we live; that we can go on living any way we like, and it is nobody’s business but our own. Paul warns us, “because of such things” God’s anger is going be poured out directly on the disobedient. These “sons of disobedience” (as the English Standard Version has it) describe those who know God and yet choose to ignore him as God; who choose to ignore his word for their lives. Words like wrath, anger, hell, judgement. They say these are just words designed to scare us into being good, things parents say to get their kids to behave. Paul says judgement is very real. In fact, notice that Paul says that judgement is very near - God’s wrath “comes” - not that it “will be coming”, but that it is here: judgement is described in the present tense. There comes a point in our act of sin when we are so wilful and determined to carry out that sin, that all God needs to do is to step back and give us over to our sinfulness. To that person may seem like, “Hey! Look at me, I’m doing this with no consequences whatsoever.” To God, that person has been written off. That’s scary. Paul is describing a real, present judgement that can be seen even today, and he says to us, “Let no one deceive you.” Wake up!

But also, Paul says, “Don’t join them.”

Therefore do not be partners with them.

Ephesians 5:7

He’s not saying here to Christians that we need to avoid them. Don’t be partners with them, meaning, don’t join them in their actions; in abusing your freedom, don’t join them in sinning with your body and mind, don’t join them in carelessly speaking hurtful words to one another. Being holy means displaying God’s holiness in a world that isn’t holy. It doesn’t mean pulling away from the world, but displaying God’s distinctiveness in this world. Paul clarifies in 1 Corinthians Chapter 5:

I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people - not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave the world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, or an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

1 Corinthians 5:9-11

Here in 1 Corinthians, we find the same categories of sin we saw in Ephesians - sexual immorality, greed, idolatry - but Paul says you can’t hide away from people who do these things. You are not supposed to. Otherwise, “you would have to leave the world”. Sometimes, that’s what we try to do. In a sincere effort to be God’s people, to live in a way that is pleasing to God, we pull away from anyone who doesn’t meet God’s standards. Paul is saying, “That’s just silly!” What he does warn us to do is to stay away from the Christian brother who does do these things. “With such a man do not even eat.” Again this is a wake-up call. We get the order mixed-up: we condemn the people who sin outside the church, and we ignore the sin that goes on and on inside the church. Paul says we live holy lives in the midst of a world that isn’t holy, and we are more conscious of it within the church which should be holy - not more oblivious to it, or dismissive of it here in the church - but more serious about it.

So, the first thing we need to be aware of is sin: the destructiveness of sin but also, the deceptiveness of sin - the kind of “empty” talk that says that there are no consequences to sin. Paul uses worship language to open our eyes to what really happens when we sin - we a giving ourselves to idolatry and we are facing the reality of God’s wrath. Instead, as Christians, we characterise our lives with holiness and we characterise our words with thanksgiving. Or, as Paul says next, we are to be “light in the Lord”.

Living as children of light

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light (for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.

Ephesians 5:9

Elsewhere in the bible, Christians are described as those who have been called out of darkness into God’s wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). It’s like you’ve moved house. You pack up all your things, you move out of darkness and you now live at a new address - Light. Things should look different in your life. Darkness is where you used to come from but not any more. You now live in the light.

However, Ephesians puts this rather different. Paul says, you were darkness, now you are light. Not that you’ve moved into light but that you’ve become light. Let me tell you why this is important - to see that we are not simply moving into a domain of light, but that we ourselves, have become a source of that light. We’ve just been talking about sin - sexual sins, greed sins, idolatrous sins - and we just heard that these sinful actions have no place among God’s people. The temptation is to deal with sin by avoiding it, maybe even, by denying it. So, we stay away from sinful people. We tell our kids to stay away from the bad kids who always get into trouble. We move out of bad neighbourhoods, away from crime, away from violence. These are not necessarily bad things to do. It is wise to stay away from temptation, especially when you know that you are susceptible to particular sins. And yet, the problem is, we might think that the solution to sin is simply to change our address. To put on a show. To try to look respectable. To avoid the bad hats and hang out with the good guys. Thinking this is what it means to be in the light.

Paul says, “You are light,” and that means two things. Firstly, you need to change. You were once darkness - you used to do these things; not any more. You need to change - your behaviour, your attitude, your life - and live for Jesus. This change is inside-out. It begins with a heart that says I’m no longer living for myself, I am going to do what God wants me to do (which is why Paul writes in verse 10: “Find out what pleases the Lord”). So, the first thing it means is radical change beginning with your life - from darkness to light. From living for ourselves to living for Jesus Christ.

But secondly, it means you become the agent of change in the lives of others. Your job isn’t simply to avoid sin, to avoid darkness. Being light means your job is to shine into the darkness. To speak lovingly and truthfully into situations where you do encounter sin. Or as Paul says next, you are called to expose the darkness.

Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible.

Ephesians 5:11-13

Now I know that this is a risky thing to say because it sounds like an excuse for being judgemental. It sounds like the busy-body who goes around pointing out problems in other people’s lives. No one likes that guy and no one ever listens to that guy. No, the way we are called to “expose” darkness is by being light in the darkness. It is talking about a contrast; a radical difference. We don’t go around saying, “That’s wrong, that’s wrong, that’s oh so wrong,” but rather we humbly live lives that say, “This is what it means to do right, to act justly, to love God.” It’s a contrast. Paul says, “The fruit of light is goodness, righteousness and truth” and he contrasts that against the “fruitless deeds of darkness.” Meaning, on one hand, you can’t help but expose sin simply by living holy lives. People will be more aware of their sin, they might even be more ashamed by their sin if they see you not caught up in those same sins. But on the other hand, you aren’t leaving people stuck in the dark either. You are speaking light into darkness. You pointing them to Jesus who died for our sins and frees us from our sin.

For it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:

“Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.”

Ephesians 5:14

It’s never pleasant dealing with sin, whether it’s in ourselves or in those we love. But the reason why we don’t avoid it, or sweep it under the carpet - the reason why it is actually loving to wake people up to the reality of their sin - is because it means we are waking them up to the reality of who Jesus is. We are not telling them that they are bad people who need to be good. We are not telling them they are lazy people who need to work harder. We are waking them up to see that they can’t help themselves, they are caught up in their sin, they are in danger of God’s wrath, but that they need Jesus who died on the cross to change them from darkness to light. Wake up, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you!

Which brings me to my point of secretiveness. Paul says we need to expose darkness. We need to wake up and let Christ shine into our darkness. Again and again, the bible is saying to us how pointless it is to put on an act to cover up our sin. I know it is a shameful thing to admit that we are sinful. I know it is a painful thing to have those around us know that we have been sinful. But trying to hide it is foolish and it doesn’t work. I am not saying that you then need to confess your sins to me or to everyone in front of the church, that’s not what I’m getting at. What I am saying is this: Are you even aware of your sin? Do you need a wake-up call about a particular sin your life, which maybe no one sees because you have hidden it so well, in the dark, for so long? Why not try this: say to God, show me my sin. Say to Jesus: Shine your light on my life - every bit of it - show me who I really am. You know, Jesus says one of the signs of a genuine believer is that he isn’t afraid to do this.

Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.

John 3:20-21

To recap, Paul says the second thing we need to be aware of is secretiveness - our propensity to hide our sin, the temptation to cover up our sin. And he says to us, You were once darkness, now you are light. In Jesus, he enables you to confront the darkness inside of you. He even uses you as an agent to confront the darkness in the lives of others, such that you are not simply calling them to turn away from their sin; you are giving them the opportunity to respond to Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

He is saying to us, this is what it means to live wisely - it is making the most of every opportunity in living for Jesus and speaking to others about Jesus.

Be filled with the Spirit

Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Ephesians 5:15-17

In the movie Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams plays John Keating, an English teacher in a prep school. On the first day of school, he brings all his students to the trophy room. He makes them all stand in front of a large display case, drawing their attention to black and white photographs of old students who used to be just like them, who studied in the same school, who shared their hopes and dreams, some of whom went on to do great things. John says to his students, “Go on. Lean in and look at them. Can you hear their voices speaking to you?” Then, whispering in the background, Mr Keating goes, “Car-pe.... Carpe.... Diem. Carpe Diem. Seize the day!”

You have one life. Make it count. Seize the day. Don’t just coast through life, be deliberate. Or to use Paul’s words, “make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.” Literally, the phrase means “buying time”. It’s a business term, meaning, your assets, your commodities are in a currency called time. Like a good businessman, you are always thinking, “How can I invest my time?” “How can I make the most return for my time.” It is saying that if you are smart and wise, you will realise that the important things in life cost you time. It means you have limited time - you can do one thing, you can’t do everything. And the worst thing you could do with your valuable time is nothing. The worst thing you could do is to waste your life.

That is what we do, if we are not wise. If we do not wake up. We let time pass us by, and in doing so, we let our lives pass us by. In the same movie, Robin William’s character quotes these words from American poet, Henry Thoreau:

‎"I went to the woods

because I wanted to live deliberately,

I wanted to live deep

and suck out all the marrow of life,

To put to rout all that was not life

and not when I had come to die

Discover that I had not lived."

You have one life. Wouldn’t it be a tragedy to say at the end of your life, “When I had come to die, (I discovered) that I had not lived”? But what’s the alternative? What does it means to “suck out the marrow of life”? I think it means this: To live passionately for Jesus. Or as Paul calls it, to be filled with the Spirit.

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:18-20

Some have used this phrase, “Be filled with the Spirit” as a way of saying that we need to have more of the Spirit, implying that some of us have less, others have more. You have 20% for coming on Sunday, but if you lead worship, you have 40%, and if you can lead worship and play guitar, you have 60%. That’s not what it’s saying. It’s not about having more of the Spirit, but about the Spirit of God having more of us, again linking back to the concept of redeeming and buying our time. It is making God more and more central in every aspect of our daily lives and saying to God, “Please fill me, all of me - my studies, my work, the way I use my money, the way I relate to my brothers and sisters in church - please use more of me for your glory.”

But why, then, does Paul compare the Spirit to wine? “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery (which means recklessness; a destructive behaviour which doesn’t care about consequences) - instead, be filled with the Spirit, he says in verse 18. The problem is with drunkenness and not with the wine. It is taking something which is good and turning to it in excess for fulfilment and for pleasure, instead of turning to God. It’s no different from the idea of idolatry we saw earlier. It only results in disappointment and destruction. You could replace wine, with food: too much results in gluttony. You could replace it with money: too much results in greed.

On the other hand, we have the Spirit. And Paul is saying, being filled with God’s spirit is a tremendously good thing and when it overflows it results in blessing. In other words, you can’t have too much of God. “Speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (or songs inspired by the Spirit).” It is talking about joy and encouragement. Some songs you can listen to again and again. You’re not trying to memorise verses for an exam. You’re not being forced to sing it. You listen and you sing it because it’s fulfilling in and of itself - it’s an overflow. Often you call these “worship” songs, that is we are singing them to God, expressing thanks in Jesus. But notice that these songs are sung to “one another”. It says the same thing in Colossians 3:16, by the way. We sing to one another as a form of encouragement, that’s why it’s not just about those one or two people who are the best singers standing up front, doing a performance in front of the church. It is all of us, singing together, praising together, even singing to one another, as an overflow of being filled with the Spirit.

But also, we sing to our hearts. “Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord.” Jesus Loves me this I know.... Yes, Jesus loves me, the bible tells me so. Knowing you, Jesus, there is no greater thing. You are ministering to your heart when you do that.

And Paul’s point is, You can’t do this enough. Anything else, you kinda need to watch yourselves that it doesn’t come back and bite you in the backside. Wine, movies, Facebook, TV, holidays, gardening, Tripos - all these are good, helpful, godly things given us for our enjoyment and God’s glory. But we can make idols out of them. Too much and we lose ourselves in them. Not the Spirit. Not Jesus. If you had to choose one thing to invest your time in that you know will give you a 100% return on investment, it’s knowing God’s will. He actually says it three times in our passage.

For of this you can be sure... (or know with certainty, and then he goes on to talk about the kingdom of Christ and of God)

Ephesians 5:5

And find out (discern, figure out) what pleases the Lord.

Ephesians 5:10

Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Ephesians 5:17

Three times, Paul comes back to knowing Jesus, figuring out what pleases him, and understanding his will. With regard to sin, the bible says, Don’t be swayed by empty words but be anchored on God’s word about his judgement and salvation. With regard to salvation, the bible says, goodness, righteousness, truth aren’t just perks that come with trusting Jesus, they flow from a heart that wants to please Jesus. And will regards to wisdom about the Spirit, about not wasting your life, Paul says, Don’t be foolish. Find out what Jesus wants you to do. That’s pretty amazing. Actually, I think it makes things very simple. The best way to guard your hearts, to spend life, to find true satisfaction is keep coming back to Jesus.

And amazingly, as he ends, he says even when we turn to God, when we give thanks to God, the best way of doing so, is always through Jesus Christ.

Wake up and smell the Jesus

Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:20

In a way, today’s passage speaks to three kinds people, and to all three, the bible says, you need to wake up and smell the Jesus. To the one caught in idolatry and sin, the bible says, give your worship to Jesus, who died for your sin and freed you from your sin. To the one trying to help his friend in sin, the bible says, point them to Jesus who is the one who can change them and whose love transforms them from darkness to light. Finally, to the one looking to spend his life wisely, who wants to live the extraordinary life, the bible says, look to Jesus and live for him. Everything we receive, we receive by grace from God, and it comes to us through one person and by one name, Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

Suit up (Ephesians 4:17-24)

This week 36-year-old comedian Russell Brand appeared before the House of Commons to talk about his views and personal experience of drug addiction. He described how he had overcome his own addiction to heroin brought on by “emotional, mental and spiritual problems”, how he had been arrested twelve times and how he was ultimately helped to overcome his addiction by adopting an “abstinence-based” approach to recovery. Mr Brand was his humorous self, at one time responding to the chairman’s request to wrap things up as “time was running out”, by answering, “TIme is infinite. You can’t run out of time!” Jokes aside, Russell Brand was clearly passionate about his cause. For him, the problem boiled down to addiction. It didn’t matter whether it was to illegal drugs like heroin or alcohol you could legally purchase off the supermarket counter. Addiction was a social problem that needed to be addressed pragmatically with “love and compassion”.

Addiction is a key theme of today’s passage, which is surprising when you realise that the bible is talking not about drugs or alcohol, but about culture. The apostle Paul writes:

Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

Ephesians 4:19

The more you invest into your addiction, the less you are satisfied by that addiction, yet the greater your hunger for that addiction. It is a vicious cycle. Now, we read this verse and think: drug addict or drunk alcoholic. But if you look back a couple of verses to verse 17, you see that Paul starts out not talking about them - those drug addicts and the like - but about you. “You must no longer live as the Gentiles do.” Don’t we have a word for this - “racism”? After all, Paul earlier referred to the Christians in Ephesus as “You Gentiles” (Ephesians 3:1). Here was Paul, a Jew commenting on another people’s culture, another nation’s heritage, another society’s lifestyle and saying to them, “You must no longer live like Gentiles.” Try saying that to one of the uncles and aunties in church today, “You must no longer live like Chinese!” Understandably, they would be offended. They would be shocked. They would say to you, “Who do you think you are?” Look again at Paul’s answer in verse 17:

So I tell you this, and insist upon it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.

Ephesians 4:17

Paul is not referring to specific cultural practices but to the motivations behind those practices. He says their way of thinking is futile, meaning, it’s empty. This line of reasoning carries through the rest of the passage: “They are darkened in their understanding” because of an “ignorance” (verse 18), they are driven by a “continual lust for more” (literally, greed, verse 19). Meaning, Paul is not targeting a specific practice in a specific culture such as offering up joss-sticks at the temple or bowing down to idols, as much as he is exposing the idolatry and addiction that is inherent in every culture. And the first thing he says is, its thinking is futile. It is empty. Not that it is sinful. Not even that it’s wrong. But in the first instance, Paul says that it is deluded. Their thinking is pointless.

Before moving on, it is worth clarifying who Paul is talking about and to do that we need to know what the word “Gentile” means. The Greek word ethne (where we get the English word “ethnicity”) literally means nations. So, ethne could be a way of referring to countries (like China) or cultures (like the Chinese). It simply means “all the nations”. Jesus is praised as the lamb who was slain, whose blood paid for the salvation from every “tribe and language and people and nation (ethnous)” (Revelation 5:9). However, within the letter of Ephesians, ethne is used in a more specific sense by Paul, as a way of contrasting and at times, separating himself from his readers. This is especially seen whenever Paul switches audiences between the “we” and the “you”. Whenever this happens, Paul is contrasting his culture with theirs as Jews and as Gentiles. The Gentiles were non-Jews. The Gentiles were all the other nations except the Jews. So, in Chapter 1 verse 11, Paul says, “We were chosen,” and in verse 12, “We were the first to hope in Christ,” that is historically, the Jewish people were privileged as God’s chosen people, to whom God revealed his salvation, who received his law, his temple and his special attention in the Old Testament. But then in verse 13, he switches from “we” to “you”. “You also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation”. How were the Gentiles saved? Not by becoming Jews, but by hearing and trusting the gospel.

Paul explains that it was God’s plan all along to bring together Jews and Gentiles as one body and as one church. Through the gospel, he says, “the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus,” - Together, together, together (Ephesians 3:6). Meaning everything that was promised to the Jews is to be 100% shared together with the non-Jews. Furthermore, Paul was specifically chosen to be “preach to the Gentiles” (Ephesians 3:8). If you stop to think about this, this is strange. In order to bring the Gentiles into the church, God did not send another Gentile, he sent the opposite of an Gentile, he sent a Jew. He sent Paul, a former Pharisee and a former terrorist against Christianity.

This is the same Paul who is now telling the Gentiles to leave their former way of life. That’s why he has to say, “I insist on it in the Lord,” meaning, “I’m serious about this.” It is one thing to have a Chinese pastor preach about the dangers of ancestor worship. It is quite another to have a gweilo critique your culture in your own church. And yet, this is how God works. He doesn’t always send the usual suspects. Quite often in fact, God uses the most unexpected, unqualified, unimaginable people to do his work to display his glory.

Or think about it this way: What does it take to reach China with the gospel? Many who come to Cambridge with good intentions of starting up a new ministry will tell me how important it is to reach the Chinese scholars and potential leaders who are studying here at the university. Or we emphasise how gathering as a Chinese community and having a high regard for family values are important elements to life as a church and evangelism within our culture. But think about this: What would be the equivalent of God using Paul to reach the Gentiles? Can we imagine God using the Japanese church to reach China? Oh, that’s just silly, you might say to me, After all, there are so few Christians in Japan, and there is still so much animosity due to conflicts in the past century. Yet wasn’t that the case with Paul and these Christians? The former Jewish persecutor of the church is now sent to the non-Jewish Christians to love and to preach the gospel to? Or imagine if God raised missionaries from China who then went out to the Middle East. Some might say to me, That’s nonsense. We look different, we sound different. It just wouldn’t work. Instead we ought to concentrate on our own people, our own problems, our own lives. If that was God’s approach to mission, you and I wouldn’t be here today. Do you realise how marvellously strange it is for a bunch of chinamen to gather on a Sunday like this, in a foreign city like Cambridge, reading a two-thousand year old document, translated from Greek to modern-day English? Is it at all biblical to focus all our prayer, all our attention, all our evangelism to reach people who are just like us?

Paul says No. You can’t live this way anymore, not the way you used to live, when you lived like Gentiles. There needs to be a change in your life, in the direction of your life. Literally, the word he uses is “walk”. No longer walk the way the Gentiles walk, is what Paul is saying. This should remind us of Chapter 4 verse 1 where Paul urges us as Christians to walk in a manner worthy of our calling to follow Jesus. Your friends will look at you and notice something different. They should. You are following Jesus, not the world. You are living for Jesus, not for yourself. To be sure, Jesus does not take you out of the world. He calls you to be salt and light in this world and within our culture. As he redeems men and women through the cross, so Jesus redeems our culture for his glory.

Now it’s possible to swing to the other extreme when dealing with culture, that is, some of us will be all too eager to winge about the problems with our respective cultures. We expect to hear in a sermon about Christ in conflict with culture. We pick on the movies we shouldn’t be watching. We highlight all the destructive behaviour we ought to be condemning. Notice, that’s not the first thing Paul does. He warns us not to walk like the Gentiles, yes, but then adds, “in the futility of their thinking.” It is not first and foremost a cultural practice that is the problem, but its thinking. The problem arises when our culture - be it Gentile culture or Chinese culture - rationalizes our sinful behaviour and justifies our rebellion against God.

They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

Ephesians 4:18

This is a rationalisation that pushes God out of the picture. On one hand, some will claim ignorance about God. The term Paul actually uses is agnoian, where we get the word agnostic. As opposed to atheists who do not believe there is a God, agnostics claim that God is unknowable. You can’t know whether there is a God. In a way, the agnostic position seems more humble compared to the atheist. It doesn’t deny God. It simply denies the possibility of knowing that there is a God. Paul would disagree. He says their ignorance or agnosticism is “due to the hardening of their hearts”. They are ignorant because they have chosen to ignore God. That might sound like a harsh thing to say, but if you look through the bible, the warning against hardening our hearts is first and foremost applied towards believers. One of the most familiar occurs in Hebrews 3:

Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts

as you did in the rebellion.
Hebrews 3:15 (also Hebrews 4:7, both quoting Psalm 95)

Again, the bible issues this warning to Christians against hardening their hearts. Here are men and women who hear God’s voice and yet in spite of the privilege of receiving that experience, are tempted to turn away “in rebellion”. Theirs is a culpable ignorance. Theirs is ignorance that chooses to ignore God’s voice and to turn away from his commands. The bible has a word for this. It is sin.

For some, that might be a new or surprising definition of sin. Some of us grew up being taught that sin means being bad, sin means doing bad things. In the later verses of Chapter 4, Paul will be addressing sinful actions, such as bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander (verse 31), but those are symptoms of the disease, not the disease itself. Sin means turning against God. The symptoms of sin are sinful behaviour, thoughts and actions - but the heart of sin is actually rebellion. That’s the disease: I no longer acknowledge God as God because I want to be God of my life. Paul says such thinking is “futile”. Psychologists today would call it self-delusion. God is the author and sustainer of all life. Separating ourselves from God only leads to disappointment, to darkness and ultimately ends in God’s judgement of death. Yet we continue to spiral down this track of destruction ironically because of our self-imposed ignorance.

Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

Ephesians 4:19

What I found insightful from Russell Brand’s interview with the House of Commons was his perspective as a drug addict. One Member of Parliament suggested role models to guide addicts towards rehabilitation. Another asked if it would make a difference informing addicts of the poverty and oppression that workers endured in the production of these drugs. Mr Brand responded quite candidly that it wouldn’t make one bit of difference. All an addict knows is his hunger, his appetite, his addiction for more. That is exactly Paul’s picture of sin. Sin makes big promises. It draws us back again and again for more. Even though it keeps disappointing us - it never ever delivers - we keep going back to it again and again. Like an addiction, sin robs our appetite for the real thing. Paul describes such people  as “losing all sensitivity” yet “giving themselves to sensuality”. It is a spiral that runs deeper and deeper leaving us emptier and emptier.

Having said that, drug addiction is but a pale comparison to the deceptiveness of sin. When we think of sin in our culture, we think of the worst behaviours our society produces. In the Chinese culture, caricatures might includes chewing food with our mouths open, always asking our friends how much they paid for their phone plan or being stingy with our tip at Starbucks. “Ooh, those are such annoying habits!” we say. We laugh at them because they are true, and yes, they can be quite embarrassing. But you see, at the heart of every culture’s self-centredness and sinfulness - and I mean this for every culture, whether it’s Asian, European, African - is not its worst values but its best. Our most treasured values in our culture are often the ones which excuse our sin, which justify our sinfulness. Hence recognising sinfulness within our culture may involve repentance not of our worst traits but of our best.

Take for example our high regard for hard work as Asians. We respect the self-made businessman. We tell our kids to work hard in school and get good grades. Yet I wonder how many would take me seriously if I said, “Our hard work ethic will cause more problems in the Chinese Church than even drug addiction”? Or if I said to the parents, “Your kids are in real danger of falling away from Jesus because they have made getting into Cambridge their idol”? No one would bat an eyelid. Lei Kong Mat Kwai Ah? They would say to me. You are making a big deal about nothing - would be the response I’d expect. Yet in all seriousness, I think the hard work ethic is a problem in our church. It is a common excuse for stepping back from church life and throwing ourselves into our careers. It is an easy way to hide greed and avoid having to be generous. It masks our pride when we place unfair demands on one another even here in the church in the name of Christian ministry. Friends, please do not use our culture or our Christian faith as licence to be unloving and selfish, despite how acceptable it might seem. Conversely, we just need to catch a whiff of this brother falling into sin, or that sister doing that thing that she shouldn’t have, and word gets around faster than a new K-Drama Youtube video. Don’t get me wrong. I believe church discipline is a scriptural response and a loving response as mandated by 1 Corinthians Chapter 5. Especially toward serious sin within the fellowship of believers, we should never turn a blind eye but respond quickly with grace and with the gospel.

However, what we have here in Ephesians 4 is the kind of sin that few would recognise as sinful. It is a license to continue sinning in such a way that the world will look on and say, “Nothing to see here. Keep calm and carry on.” If you are a Christian, Paul says, you don’t walk this way anymore, following the way of Gentiles. Following your Asian culture, your work culture, what your friends think is popular and cool. Following what the world says is OK and acceptable. You follow Jesus and listen to what he says is holy and acceptable before him.

This is not news. If you are a Christian, you know this. Paul adds, you have been taught better than this.

You, however did not come to know (learn) Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.

Ephesians 4:20

This is Paul’s way of saying, “You guys should know better!” following up with three actions and three emphases. The three actions are (1) Learn, (2) Heard and (3) Taught; corresponding to the three emphases which are (1) Christ, (2) Truth and (3) Jesus. All three are referring to the gospel. The gospel reveals Jesus as God’s chosen Messiah (You learned Christ). The gospel brings us into a saving relationship with Jesus (You heard of him - referring to conversion). The gospel keeps us in obedience to Jesus (You were taught in accordance to the truth in Jesus).

For Paul, the turning point is the gospel. Don’t miss this. Previously, Paul says, you walked with the world but everything changed when you learned/heard/were taught about Jesus through the gospel. Surely this happened, didn’t it? Paul seems to be saying. What is he doing? In dealing with sin, in warning the Christians about the dangers of falling back into temptation of sin, Paul brings our focus squarely back to the gospel. That’s the turning point. Hearing and trusting in the gospel. Speaking to the Gentiles, Paul says, “You also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” (Ephesians 1:13)

This is important because the Gentiles didn’t become Christians by abandoning their own culture and adopting the culture of the Jews. They were still Gentiles and they still lived among Gentiles (Otherwise Paul wouldn’t have had to warn them about becoming like the Gentiles). The big difference was the gospel. They were now walking in Christ as Gentiles Christians together with Jewish Christians as one church.

How do we do this? One one hand, we are supposed to be one church, but on the other, this church has two (and perhaps more) distinct cultures? Or in dealing with sin: we am supposed to fight temptation and yet live in a world that constantly succumbs to it? How do we as Christians walk as followers of Jesus when everyone seems to be going in a totally different direction?

Paul tells us how in three steps: (1) Strip off, (2) Surrender all and (3) Suit up!

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

Step 1: Strip it off! Paul says to strip off your old self - referring to your “former way of life”. Like a stinky old jacket, you need to get rid of it. It is corrupted with curry stains and deceitful desires. It needs to be gone!

Step 2: Surrender it all. That is, you need to be made new in the “spirit of your minds”. This is not something you can do, but something God does in your life when you trust completely in Jesus’ death on your behalf on the cross. He changes you completely from the inside out!

Finally, Step 3: Suit on up with your new self. God makes you a new creation in his own likeness, clothing you with true righteousness and holiness, the symbolism being that this righteousness and holiness is external to us (like a suit!) It reminds us that we are not earning our salvation like a badge of honour. This is Jesus’ righteousness and holiness that covers us making us acceptable in God’s sight.

Strip, surrender and suit up! Yet what we have here are not three steps to rehabilitation. They are three results of our one salvation. They all flow from one source - Jesus - and Paul is simply reminding these struggling Christians of who they are in Christ. He isn’t giving them a list to do. He is reminding them of what Jesus has already done. Jesus has stripped away our sin. He is changing us from within to be more like him. And he covers us with his love and holiness. This are amazing assurances that the bible gives us - Jesus has saved us; he is changing us; he will complete that work that he began in us to perfection. Until then, we continue to work out our salvation knowing that it is God who is working in us to will and to act according to his good pleasure.

I began by saying that today’s passage was on addiction. I don’t want to make light of that. For those who continue to struggle with their addictions past and present, it is a struggle that can wear you down. I hope that at least we have seen that the bible is very honest about the tension between the now and the not yet. Now as Christians we have the assurance of Jesus’ complete work of salvation on the cross. He has freed us from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin. But only when he returns, will Jesus then free us from the effects of sin. This includes death, depression and even the darkness of drug addiction. Many years ago, I was very surprised and encouraged by a prayer of a Christian who was a former drug addict. He asked us to pray for his addiction. He was absolutely clean, he had not used drugs for years and years but he was well aware of his propensity and struggle. This led him to pray. This led him to be honest about what he needed prayer for.

My worry for you, friends, is that you think you are different from my friend, because you’ve never used. The truth may simply be that you’ve never been caught. Or worse, you are in full denial. Sin is a snare and it draws us into enslavement to sin through legitimate longings and appetites - sex, approval, hunger, happiness, security, excitement, success, wealth, beauty, love - but does so by leading us away from God rather than to God as the source of all good things in life, the author of life itself. In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). People wrongly interpret this verse as saying that if we sin, we die. That’s not what it’s saying. Rather this verse is exposing how we serve sin as slaves. We pour our lives into sin thinking we will get some kind of reward, some kind of satisfaction. But Paul says, sin only has one currency. It pays us in death. “The wages of sin is death.”

But read on: The gift of God is eternal life. Unlike death, eternal life is not a paycheck for a job well done. We don’t earn it, Jesus does. That is why it can only be found in him, in Jesus Christ our Lord.

If you are in Christ, the promises we have seen today are God’s guarantee to you. You are freed from sin. It no longer has any hold on you. There is absolutely no more condemnation upon you for Christ took it all on the cross. While you will struggle with the effects of sin in this life - perhaps not even yours, but those close to you - God uses all things as part of his eternal plan to mold you into his image and to bring all glory to Jesus. In these struggles and pains, and not out of them, God will display his grace, his mercy, his power and his love shown us in Jesus Christ.

Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to the cross I cling;

Naked, come to Thee for dress;

Helpless look to Thee for grace;

Foul, I to the fountain fly;

Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

(“Rock of ages”, Augustus Toplady)