Scripture: Romans 7:14-25; 2 Peter 1:3-8
Today, we begin a new series of sermons that will
take us into Thanksgiving. So the theme
for these next 5 messages will be, obviously, “To God, Our Thanksgiving”, with
the intent being to consider the many blessings that have come from the Lord,
and that we should rightly be giving our thanks to the only One who is so
deserving – our Great God Almighty.
We begin today with passages from Romans and 2 Peter
– each written by men who had their own personal reasons for understanding
where their lives of victory had come from, and what the Lord had been
contributing to make their new lives so precious. And hopefully, as we proceed through these
next 5 weeks, we will also discover and acknowledge all that God has done, and
continues to do, within our own lives.
And it wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially if any of us journal on a
regular basis, to begin keeping a list of those times when we experience the
goodness of God at work within us.
So just what did these two evangelists learn about
God’s work that brought hope, blessings, and newness to all that they did,
thought, and offered to others?
Read Romans 7:14-25
I will readily admit that this portion of Paul’s
ramblings is even more difficult to follow than does so many other verses that we
have had to reread several times before we began to understand what he was
getting at! So I will try to sort out
his intent and warnings to us as we consider his opposing descriptions of both
the desires that he has for the life he lives, versus those things that
actually develop and come out of him as life unfolds within him.
As he speaks about the law as the cause for the
sinful actions that come out of his life, it’s important to understand that
what he isn’t saying is that the law itself is sinful! His point, as he writes in other passages, is
that before the law of Moses was handed down, there was no sin, because the
Lord had yet to tell us what sin actually is! (Romans 7:7)
However, in Romans 8:1-2,
Paul writes that “through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit
who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and
death.” The law tells us what sin is,
but because of our weakness in the flesh, we are still prone to sin! And God understands just how susceptible we
are to the plague of worldly ways, but out of the love that he has for all
people, Jesus came into the world to be our salvation from doing the very
things that we know we shouldn’t! You
might think that if we know the difference between the way and truth of Jesus
Christ and the evil that comes from the ways of the world, that we would choose
to stay in His way all of the time! But
that just isn’t the way that it all comes down!
The allure of the world is strong, and, unfortunately, we just aren’t as
strong as we should be to resist it, and we fall time and time again. But if we choose to be one with God in
Christ, we have hope through our repentance from sin, and then in the subsequent
forgiveness that Jesus offers us through faith in Him.
Paul, apparently, had this same struggle going on in
his life. He knew what was right and good, but all too often, he discovered
that the world was always right there too, calling him to take the path of sin
instead of the one that would take him to the way of Jesus! He tells us that he hates that other
way, and yet, he continues to choose to spend time on that dark and foreboding
path. And he chastises himself for his
weakness when he cries out “What a wretched man I am!”. But then claims the redemption of Jesus Christ
as the only way that can save him from his own body of death!
His heart and mind are given to the law of God, even
as his flesh is mired in slavery to the law of sin. And he is thankful that Jesus has come to him
to win the victorious life that he himself never could gain on his own. Praise God for giving His Son for us, as well
as for all who will claim the life-giving power of God to win the battle
against sin and death.
Read 2 Peter 1:3-8
Peter is making a case for the destruction of those earthly
ways that would draw us further into sin. And
what is the only power that can do that?
It is the salvation that God’s “great and precious promises” will produce through our seeking of the
freedom path that is Jesus. But a word
of caution – when Peter writes that God has given us all things needed for life
and “godliness”, he doesn’t mean that God has prepared the way
for us to become equal to Him!
The word means that we have the proper attitude of love for the Lord,
and that we display that love through our obedience to the word He has set down
for us.
The disciple then offers us a step-by-step list of
attributes that enable us to live a life that honors and displays the teachings
of Jesus Christ. Let’s take a few
moments to consider what each means for our life.
It begins with faith, which then leads us to a
growth in goodness. Why must our
Christian walk begin in faith? To put it
bluntly, without a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and a commitment to follow
Him wherever that might take us, there is nothing else, including
goodness!
Second, from goodness, we grow in knowledge. From a righteous life in Christ, we grow to
love and understand His ways.
Third, from knowledge, we gain self-control. Knowledge brings with it a great
understanding of who God would have us be, and a desire to develop into the one
who God wants us to be. And each
and every day that we spend striving to accept and achieve the goal that the
Lord has prepared for us, we grow in discipline and willpower.
Fourth, from self-control, we grow in
perseverance. This step makes a lot of
sense, in that when we take a greater influence over the things that we do, we
are able to stay faithful to the call of Jesus even
though the world’s temptations surround us and call us to their ways, too.
Fifth, perseverance leads to godliness. The more times, and the longer the times,
that we walk arm in arm with our Lord Jesus, and the more we learn from His
will in our lives, the closer we come to living the life He has prepared for
each of us.
Sixth, godliness produces a greater kindness within
us, that we can then share with our brothers and sisters throughout this world.
Seventh, the more kindness we show toward others,
the greater the love that it will produce within not only others, but within
ourselves.
And Peter then writes that if these attributes never
existed within us, our faith and faithful witness would never become more than a
simple, imperfect example of what God can do through us, and an insufficient
demonstration of what we are willing to be and give for our God. As we reflect on how these 7 steps of faith
fill our life more and more with the word and way of Christ, we begin to
understand the commitment that our Triune God has made in His gifts and
promises that always bless our lives.
It's all about what God has done for us. Imagine how the humanness of Jesus suffered
so greatly on our behalf, and that the Godly Person of Jesus surrendered so
much of His glory and honor, simply to win a place in heavenly presence for the
unworthy likes of you and me.
Can we ever even begin to show our Eternal
God and King just how much we owe Him for all that He has done to show us the
way of His kingdom, both in heaven and here in our lives? May we all give Him our eternal and godly
thanks every moment of every day during this season of Thanksgiving. Give glory to God, and Him alone.
