back to index2019-03-13: Wed Bible Study Lesson 8
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Let me ask you, now that we've been in it maybe about 5 or 6 weeks, are you getting 00:00:23.600 |
the hang of things and asking questions and looking for observations? 00:00:32.000 |
Tell me, just by show of hands, because I can't tell just by you nodding your head, 00:00:39.280 |
how many of you feel like you're getting the hang of things? 00:00:43.120 |
How many of you guys are getting lost every week? 00:00:50.800 |
You're getting the hang of getting lost every week, huh? 00:00:55.360 |
Alright, like I said, from the beginning, our goal in the study wasn't simply to go 00:01:02.000 |
through Colossians, it was to kind of give you some guidelines as to what to look for 00:01:07.800 |
Okay, so that's why we're not going through every line by line thoroughly, the meaning 00:01:14.040 |
behind it, because it would, there would be too much to cover and there's no way I'm 00:01:18.440 |
going to be able to do that in 30 minutes every single week. 00:01:21.480 |
So the goal of it is just to highlight it, give some outlines, certain things to look 00:01:25.120 |
for so that you can do your study and hopefully that the main part of your study is something 00:01:29.620 |
that you do on your own and then when you come, you're able to share with your group. 00:01:33.640 |
Okay, so let me pray first and then we'll jump in. 00:01:39.120 |
Gracious Father, we thank you for your living word. 00:01:42.160 |
We thank you for the amazing truth, Lord God, that we find week to week. 00:01:46.800 |
There's so much depth and wisdom behind all that you have to tell us. 00:01:51.240 |
Help us, Lord God, to search through it, to really dig for treasures. 00:02:01.280 |
It gives us a vision of who you are and what you desire. 00:02:05.760 |
We pray that through it that you would teach us to know you better. 00:02:12.080 |
All right, so the first thing we want to look at is the hermeneutical principle and every 00:02:17.120 |
week we're looking through are there any kind of repeated words or phrases that give us 00:02:21.400 |
some guidelines as to what you should be looking for. 00:02:25.440 |
One of the first things that I mentioned, if you look at the first page that was passed 00:02:28.920 |
out, compare translations to see if there are words or phrases that have been translated 00:02:34.040 |
differently to clarify certain ambiguous references in the text. 00:02:38.960 |
So the four translations that I usually look into is the NASV, ESV, NIV, and the KJV or 00:02:47.160 |
Now, if you have Bible programs or if you're online looking through translations, you can 00:02:53.520 |
probably find about 40 or 50 different translations. 00:02:58.280 |
The reason why I choose these is because of the different philosophies that they used. 00:03:09.520 |
King James didn't care if you understood it or not. 00:03:15.480 |
So if that's exactly what it means, that's exactly what they put in there. 00:03:20.760 |
Sometimes it makes absolutely no sense in English. 00:03:23.720 |
So the reason why I look at King James is when there's certain phrasing that's really, 00:03:30.320 |
really awkward, and even for King James sometimes, it's to the point where it makes no sense 00:03:37.320 |
Like I said, King James, it's just put whatever was in Greek, they just put it in. 00:03:41.040 |
Even the word order, they follow the exact word order. 00:03:45.680 |
But if you have a hard time understanding if something is awkward, you know there's 00:03:50.560 |
something in the Greek that they had a hard time translating. 00:03:55.600 |
So if it was, "I ate food," that's not hard to translate in any language. 00:04:01.440 |
Maybe the order of the verb and the subject, all of that may be twisted or maybe it would 00:04:06.800 |
be in a different order, but that's not hard to translate. 00:04:09.920 |
But if you speak two languages or more languages, you know there are certain words or phrases 00:04:17.280 |
And so sometimes it would be a single word, but you would have to use a whole phrase to 00:04:23.240 |
Or sometimes it would be a phrase and there's a good word in the other language that can 00:04:29.640 |
So those of you who speak two languages, which probably many of us in this room, or at least 00:04:34.680 |
somewhat, you know at least enough that there are certain words that just can't be translated 00:04:41.440 |
So when you compare the translations, you'll see that the words that are not easily translated, 00:04:49.840 |
oftentimes you'll see the words differently in each translation or the phrase will come 00:04:56.120 |
I know that some of you are already doing that, but that already tells you there's something 00:05:01.600 |
Now it doesn't mean that there's hidden meaning, it just means that there wasn't an exact word 00:05:09.940 |
So that's why there's debate as to well this word. 00:05:15.240 |
A perfect example of the word is the word "meno". 00:05:18.880 |
It means to abide, and the word abide has many different facets of that word. 00:05:25.240 |
And so if you look at the different translations, it'll say "remain", "to continue", "to abide", 00:05:30.400 |
and all of that combined is the meaning of that word. 00:05:34.120 |
So each translation only picked one that they thought would capture to the best of their 00:05:40.520 |
But if you really want to know, you have to know the meaning behind all of it because 00:05:46.480 |
So I think getting in the habit of comparing translations is a good way to study the Bible. 00:05:55.280 |
So before I used to have a Bible that had four translations. 00:06:00.620 |
So basically New Testament was this thick because it was four translations. 00:06:04.240 |
So you open it up and it would have about five or six different translations and the 00:06:09.440 |
And then so I was able to look it up like this and show it. 00:06:12.960 |
So whenever I looked at that Bible, again, just... 00:06:20.880 |
The four, the three different philosophies of translation... 00:06:43.640 |
So the literal translations are the ones that use the philosophy where they're going to 00:06:51.600 |
So NASB, King James, and RSV was translated with that philosophy. 00:07:00.880 |
So when it comes to NASB and RSV, they tried to make it so that it's understandable, but 00:07:08.120 |
their primary philosophy was they're going to keep it to the Greek as close as possible. 00:07:12.800 |
Where King James used the same principle, but they just didn't care. 00:07:19.240 |
Dynamic equivalent, NIV, and there are other translations, but the NIV is the one that 00:07:25.080 |
Dynamic equivalent is they did their best to translate the Greek text, except when it 00:07:33.080 |
If they phrased it a certain way that it just wouldn't make sense in English, they translated 00:07:39.760 |
So it's kind of in between the literal and the paraphrase. 00:07:44.700 |
But the reason why NIV is not the best translation to study out of, if you're really trying to 00:07:50.840 |
dig, because when it came to certain issues, they translated it for you. 00:07:55.960 |
Meaning they basically put into the Bible, this is what this word means. 00:08:05.320 |
So they go the extra step and it kind of functions like a commentary. 00:08:12.400 |
I would say majority of it, that is not an issue. 00:08:15.520 |
But there's enough of it in the NIV that as you are studying it, word for word, verse 00:08:21.960 |
by verse, chapter by chapter, oftentimes when you compare with other translations, especially 00:08:26.360 |
the literal translations, they did a lot of translating for you. 00:08:30.560 |
It's almost kind of like reading a commentary rather than the Bible itself. 00:08:34.360 |
And then the paraphrase translation, obviously, is they wanted to get the Bible, but they 00:08:45.880 |
So I've been going back and forth with Everest, whether this is a dynamic equivalent or not. 00:08:52.520 |
The pigeon, P-I-D, not the pigeon, the bird, but the message, the Ebonics Bible, these 00:09:01.440 |
are all things that they were more concerned that you understood it in modern language. 00:09:07.400 |
Let me read John 3, 16 for you in the pigeon language, okay? 00:09:11.560 |
God went get so plenty love and aloha for the people inside the world that he went send 00:09:18.840 |
me his one and only boy so that everybody that trust me don't get cut off from God, 00:09:28.340 |
but get the real kind life that stay the max forever. 00:09:34.680 |
Again, we were going back and forth whether this is dynamic equivalent or not. 00:09:44.800 |
Anyway, the reason why I sometimes compare with the paraphrase translations, because 00:09:51.800 |
it's hard to understand in the literal, and even the dynamic equivalent, you kind of have 00:09:58.880 |
So when I look at the paraphrase, they actually would have a whole sentence. 00:10:02.920 |
It's almost kind of looking at a commentary, that this is what they think that this meant. 00:10:08.640 |
So whenever I study the Bible, I have different translations that are open on my computer 00:10:12.960 |
and I compare, especially the ones that are difficult to understand. 00:10:15.940 |
So in this text that we're looking at, there's some examples of that. 00:10:24.760 |
I already got a couple of questions about elementary principle, taking his stand, the 00:10:33.600 |
These are a lot of words that you look at and say, "Well, what does he mean by that?" 00:10:43.600 |
So if you look at the different translations, you'll see that those words were translated 00:10:52.600 |
There's something going on that couldn't be translated directly. 00:10:56.320 |
The word here for self-abasement literally means voluntary humility by own volition. 00:11:04.200 |
Now King James straight up said, "Like some voluntary humility, or delight in voluntary 00:11:18.080 |
So the ESV translated asceticism, NIV translated false humility, and then the NASB translated 00:11:28.040 |
So again, you kind of get the idea that there's something going on here that couldn't be translated 00:11:39.160 |
The context of what could he have possibly meant by voluntary humility. 00:11:45.760 |
So we're not there yet, but since we're here, what do you think he means when you look at 00:11:59.520 |
Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize, but abide delighting in self-abasement. 00:12:09.280 |
Asceticism, false humility, voluntary humility. 00:12:13.600 |
What do you think he means by self-abasement? 00:12:25.960 |
Look at the context of what he's been saying, and what he is saying. 00:12:31.280 |
What does it mean to delight in self-abasement? 00:12:54.520 |
What is he talking about in the context here though? 00:13:00.080 |
Don't do this, don't do that, don't touch this, right? 00:13:03.240 |
So basically when they're doing that, what are they doing? 00:13:07.280 |
They're presenting themselves as godly by denying themselves, but it's fake, right? 00:13:21.080 |
When they would fast, they would make sure that everybody knew that they were fasting, 00:13:26.400 |
They put on long faces and they're walking around saying, "Hey, I'm fasting, I'm not 00:13:32.000 |
So all of that, that self-denial, this fake godliness on the outside, all for self-righteousness, 00:13:41.760 |
So if you look at it in the context, voluntary humility, false humility, asceticism, self-abasement. 00:13:48.880 |
So when you look at it, it's like, okay, they translate it in different words, but when 00:13:52.840 |
you put that all together within the context in which he's writing it, he's talking about 00:13:57.420 |
somebody who's using their humility, but they're not really humble. 00:14:11.400 |
So it's the opposite of humility, it's fake humility. 00:14:17.200 |
So that's just an example of looking at the text, looking at the different translations, 00:14:23.040 |
see what's going on, dig a little bit further, and then the immediate context is always the 00:14:31.020 |
And then if you wanna go a step further than that, you look at cross-references. 00:14:34.640 |
Or there are other parts of the Bible where this word is used, and how did Paul and how 00:14:40.940 |
And that'll help you to see collectively, "Oh, this is what he means by that." 00:14:47.080 |
So when it comes to this, so far I've asked you to not to look at commentaries, not to 00:14:53.640 |
read your study Bibles, because I don't want you to jump from the text to someone else's 00:14:58.180 |
insights and then say, "I've got an insight," right? 00:15:02.160 |
You get in the habit of doing that, you'll be doing that all your life and you'll never 00:15:05.800 |
You'll know what somebody says about the Bible, but you don't know the Bible itself, okay? 00:15:11.000 |
One of the tools that I would want to introduce to you is a Bible dictionary. 00:15:18.080 |
So when a word comes out that is hard to understand, the translators had a difficult time, then 00:15:24.120 |
that's when a Bible dictionary comes out and you look up that word and look at the literal. 00:15:31.680 |
And the reason why it doesn't help, it'll say, "Humility, lowering yourself," right? 00:15:40.840 |
So it doesn't necessarily help until you get to the actual application of it, right? 00:15:46.200 |
So if you say, like, "Submission," the literal word is to put yourself under military command 00:15:55.800 |
or something to that effect, or stand under something. 00:15:58.440 |
Or "Perseverance" is to be under pressure, right? 00:16:03.000 |
Standing under pressure, that's a literal understanding of it. 00:16:05.200 |
So those type of words, when you look at the literal understanding of it, it gives you 00:16:10.480 |
"Patience" literally means long suffering, suffering for a long period of time. 00:16:14.960 |
So those type of things, it helps, but that's not there for every single word. 00:16:21.160 |
Sometimes you can get carried away, and sometimes I hear preachers saying, "God says to work 00:16:27.800 |
hard, and work hard means to really labor with all your might." 00:16:31.520 |
Yeah, that's what "work hard" means, you know what I mean? 00:16:35.380 |
But they kinda get carried away thinking, like, if you dig into the Greek, there's some 00:16:38.640 |
special meaning that you're gonna be able to find in every single word, in every single 00:16:47.640 |
Only when it comes to words like this, where it's clearly they had a hard time translating 00:16:53.560 |
Then you can go to the extra help to help you to do that, right? 00:16:59.780 |
Majority of what you need to know is already in the English, okay? 00:17:09.080 |
I outlined it in three ways, let no one judge you. 00:17:12.120 |
If you look at it, the two words that pop out in verse 16 and 18 is "let no one," right? 00:17:18.720 |
Let no one judge you, verse 18, let no one defraud you, right? 00:17:25.560 |
Let no one judge you, 18, 19, let no one defraud you. 00:17:29.640 |
Again, this is not science, this is just, you know, this is the way I outlined this. 00:17:34.000 |
So if I was giving a sermon, or if I was giving a lesson, this is the outline that I see, 00:17:41.480 |
Because this is, I see his thought flow in this way, okay? 00:17:46.000 |
And then the last part, verse 20 to 23, "If you died with Christ, then why do you live 00:17:59.920 |
What's interesting is, if we go back to the previous passage in chapter 2, verse 4, and 00:18:05.040 |
then chapter 2, verse 8, it also has the "no one" verse, right? 00:18:09.680 |
Let no one delude you, in chapter 2, verse 4, right? 00:18:16.160 |
Chapter 2, verse 8, let no one take you captive. 00:18:19.980 |
So if you look at these four "no one" statements, chapter 2, verse 4, 8, 16, and 18, the first 00:18:27.520 |
two about not, let no one, let no one delude you, let no one take you captive, with false 00:18:43.000 |
The two warnings that are here is the application of that false teaching, okay? 00:18:50.120 |
So the "no one" in verse 2 and 8, and then the "no one" in verse 16 and 18 are connected. 00:18:55.520 |
Because Paul is basically giving them warning about these false prophets who are coming 00:18:59.520 |
in and they're deluding the truth and they're taking you captive, and don't let them judge 00:19:04.600 |
you, and don't let them defraud you of your prize. 00:19:07.540 |
So the two are, watch out for false teaching, and then the next two is basically watch out 00:19:13.420 |
for the, watch out for the application of these false teaching, okay? 00:19:26.680 |
So therefore, no one, no one, no one judge you, no one defraud you, okay? 00:19:36.720 |
Regarding food or drink, and this is a theme that we see here, right? 00:19:40.160 |
Do not touch, do not eat, do not taste, right? 00:19:43.240 |
About respect for festivals, new moons, and Sabbath day. 00:19:55.040 |
The Gentiles didn't practice the Sabbath, right? 00:19:58.480 |
So he's talking to the Judaizers who are coming in and saying, "It is not enough for you to 00:20:04.700 |
You have to believe in Jesus and you have to be a Jew." 00:20:06.960 |
So you have to first be a Jew to be a Christian. 00:20:10.360 |
That's what the basic teaching of the Judaizers were. 00:20:13.160 |
So remember, we talked about where Colossae existed. 00:20:26.280 |
So remember when Paul wrote Galatians, right? 00:20:30.400 |
Because of the concern that the Judaizers were having on the churches, and not just 00:20:37.800 |
So Judaizers had a tremendous influence in that area, that area in Asia Minor, okay? 00:20:43.560 |
So he's addressing that issue of these false teachers who are coming in and saying that 00:20:53.200 |
So Paul is writing this to basically saying that, right, don't let them judge you. 00:20:58.240 |
In other words, don't let them pressure you to go back to the old system. 00:21:03.200 |
These are just these festivals, what to eat, new moon festival, Sabbath. 00:21:07.400 |
These are things that's the shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ, 00:21:13.920 |
The word for substance, I think somebody asked a question. 00:21:27.880 |
So when you look at it in the Greek, when it says body, it says the shadow, all of these 00:21:33.560 |
things are a shadow, but the real body is Christ. 00:21:36.800 |
It makes a lot more sense in the Greek, right? 00:21:41.880 |
Yeah, everything else, they said substance or anybody have NIV or, I forgot to put that 00:22:27.560 |
All right, so it's one of those words, again, I think, I don't know why they didn't translate 00:22:32.680 |
it body, because the body makes a lot more sense, because it directly connects the shadow 00:22:41.720 |
That all of these things were just a shadow, reflection of Christ. 00:22:46.160 |
So why would you go back to the reflection when the body, who is Jesus, shows up, right? 00:22:54.160 |
Unless you didn't have the body, all you had was a shadow, then you're carefully studying 00:22:58.000 |
the shadow, but why would you carefully study the shadow when Jesus is standing right in 00:23:04.760 |
So don't let them judge you on these things, because the reality, the body itself has come 00:23:09.480 |
Verse 18, "Let no one keep defrauding you of your price." 00:23:13.160 |
Not only are they judging you, they're preventing you from your price if you go back to the 00:23:17.680 |
old covenant, by delighting in self-abasement, and we already talked about that, right? 00:23:23.840 |
This false humility of thinking that they're being pious, right? 00:23:29.000 |
And that was a whole rebuke toward the Pharisees and the scribes, right? 00:23:31.980 |
Everything you do, you do for other people to see. 00:23:34.380 |
You're not being righteous in the eyes of God, you wanna be seen as righteous before 00:23:42.080 |
You can be a Christian, but you still have to fall in line. 00:23:45.160 |
So basically what the Judaizers were doing, they earned this religious credit among the 00:23:51.360 |
Jewish people, and they were the top leaders in the synagogue, so everybody had to submit 00:23:57.120 |
So when Christianity came, all of a sudden, Jesus flips the table over. 00:24:02.040 |
He had tax collectors, he had fishermen, he had people who didn't have strong standing 00:24:08.320 |
in society, all of a sudden, they became the leaders. 00:24:12.280 |
So what the Judaizers were doing is they were trying to maintain their status while bringing 00:24:19.120 |
So by them saying, "No, no, you have to keep the Sabbath, you gotta do this, this, and 00:24:23.360 |
this," which they were already doing, they were experts in doing. 00:24:26.520 |
They were known in the community as being law keepers, right? 00:24:30.980 |
So it wasn't simply a confusion of the law, it wasn't simply that they had a hard time 00:24:35.280 |
transitioning from the covenant, old to the new covenant. 00:24:38.760 |
What they were having a hard time with is this new kingdom where he completely overthrows 00:24:46.040 |
They wanted to maintain their status while bringing Christianity underneath, right? 00:24:51.620 |
So you can convert, and we're allowing you to come because of Jesus, but you still have 00:24:58.300 |
And that's what's being rebuked, that everything that they do is not because they're seeking 00:25:02.200 |
righteousness, it's false humility, false righteousness. 00:25:07.760 |
Worship of angels, which we talked about, in that particular area, Asia Minor was struggling 00:25:15.160 |
Again, the word "taking a stand," some of your translations says, "goes into much detail," 00:25:22.320 |
Basically, what he's saying is, this is their source of pride. 00:25:26.720 |
They're going on and on about this extracurricular vision that they saw, and what is the reason 00:25:36.960 |
Just like their false humility, they're going into these details in order to what? 00:25:44.400 |
Just like the NASB says, "to take their stand." 00:25:47.880 |
In other words, to keep status above everybody else, right? 00:26:02.560 |
It's fake righteousness, all for the purpose of their own glory, right? 00:26:07.240 |
Inflated without cause by fleshly mind, right? 00:26:10.440 |
In other words, they have no real cause to brag. 00:26:19.040 |
And then, verse 19, "and not holding fast to the head," because true righteousness in 00:26:23.440 |
the New Covenant is found in relation to Christ, right? 00:26:27.960 |
So they're trying to find their status and righteousness outside of Christ, which is 00:26:35.220 |
They're going into details about visions and experiences that they had, instead of connecting 00:26:44.240 |
So doesn't that happen in our generation, in our churches, in our lives? 00:26:51.240 |
If we want status and to be recognized, we can talk about our experiences. 00:26:57.000 |
We can talk about how much schooling that we had. 00:27:03.360 |
We can talk about our status, our finances, whatever it may be. 00:27:07.080 |
If we want to be recognized, we present, "This is what I did. 00:27:10.280 |
Oh, I fasted this much," or "I did that and I did that," right? 00:27:13.680 |
And that's basically what they're saying is doing. 00:27:16.000 |
They're trying to present themselves to be more godly, more righteous than other people, 00:27:23.840 |
And not holding fast to the head, not holding fast to the head, which is Christ, for whom 00:27:36.460 |
So notice how he says that the shadow is what to come, but the body belongs to Christ, which 00:27:45.400 |
is fulfilled, and we are part of that body, right? 00:27:50.120 |
So again, it would make a lot more sense in the Greek when you're reading it and you see 00:27:58.400 |
So the entire body being supplied and held together by joints and ligaments grows with 00:28:15.580 |
When we are connected to his body, all this stuff about self-abasement, worship of angels, 00:28:20.100 |
you know, taking stand on divisions, inflated by our flesh, all of these things are fake 00:28:30.120 |
What God desires is for us to be connected to the head, that our body connected to his 00:28:37.760 |
And then he goes to the second part, "If, then why," right? 00:28:43.840 |
If you died with Christ, why do you live in the world, right? 00:28:51.820 |
If you died with Christ, the elementary principles of the world, the word here for elementary 00:28:55.580 |
principles, again, is another one of those words that, you know, requires a little bit 00:29:01.620 |
The word, again, literally means rudimentary things, like fundamental, foundational, right? 00:29:10.540 |
So if you died to the ABCs of the elementary principles of the world, and what is he talking 00:29:28.820 |
Without the context, you can say, you know, like you can just go into just the world and 00:29:33.380 |
say, "Oh, these are the fundamental things that we learn," like, you know, ABC 1, 2, 00:29:41.780 |
He's talking about specifically the elementary principles that was given to you in God's 00:29:49.020 |
In other words, you're going back to the first step, right? 00:29:55.940 |
God brought you to calculus, but you're going back to plus and minus. 00:30:03.300 |
So in other words, he's saying, if you died to the elementary principle, the ABCs of the 00:30:08.140 |
gospel, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to the decrees? 00:30:15.020 |
The purpose of learning ABCs is so that you can read, right? 00:30:21.940 |
You don't go around memorizing ABCD and then you're 15, you're still, "ABCD." 00:30:26.660 |
Wow, you're really good at your ABCDs, but you can't read. 00:30:31.780 |
Because the point of learning the ABCD is so that you can read. 00:30:36.060 |
And then every year you're learning to read better. 00:30:38.180 |
So in other words, he planted his law in the Old Testament and all the covenant and all 00:30:42.620 |
the things of Leviticus as a foundation, right? 00:30:52.900 |
So understanding Christ, he gave us all of this so that we can read Christ. 00:30:57.540 |
So if you, if you miss Christ, you miss the whole point of the ABCs. 00:31:09.140 |
So if you don't understand how Leviticus, how Numbers, how Old Testament laws, the prophecies, 00:31:17.140 |
the judgment, the kings, how all of this laid the foundation for the coming of Christ, then 00:31:22.820 |
you missed the whole point of the Old Testament. 00:31:27.460 |
He looked for the scriptures to look for life. 00:31:28.980 |
In other words, you thought that the ABCs were going to give you life. 00:31:36.020 |
That's why he says, "I didn't come to abolish the law." 00:31:39.340 |
He didn't come and say, "The ABCs are wrong." 00:31:46.020 |
You learned your ABCs so that you can know who I am, right? 00:31:51.260 |
If you died to the elementary principles because now the body, now the shadow, right, that 00:31:58.140 |
was cast by the body, Christ, came, why are you laying again the foundation of ABC, right? 00:32:06.920 |
You don't take somebody who knows how to read and say, "Hey, I got a lesson for you. 00:32:15.160 |
Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch, right? 00:32:19.300 |
All Old Testament stuff, which all are destined to perish, right? 00:32:27.180 |
In accordance to the commandments of teachings of men, these are just teachings of men. 00:32:33.760 |
They have the appearance of wisdom and this is why this was so tempting. 00:32:42.780 |
They are made self-made religion and self-abasement with severe treatment to the body, but have 00:32:55.060 |
And the reason why this was so deceiving is because it's tangible, right? 00:33:12.020 |
If you want to lose weight, do these three things and don't do these three things, right? 00:33:17.460 |
You want to get closer to God, do these three things, don't do these three things. 00:33:21.500 |
But the fundamental teaching of the gospel is you can't get to God like that, right? 00:33:28.260 |
You can't get to God by making three-year plans. 00:33:33.300 |
You can't get to God by not watching certain programs and doing this and doing that, because 00:33:38.500 |
all of that in and of itself has no power to change you. 00:33:45.780 |
It can change the way you present yourself to people. 00:33:48.140 |
It can change the way that people look at you and say, "Oh, that guy is so disciplined. 00:33:53.300 |
But it doesn't do anything to change who you are, right? 00:34:05.520 |
The Bible is filled with commandments to be disciplined, right? 00:34:10.620 |
To run this race as to win, to buff up my body, make it my slave. 00:34:14.420 |
That's possibly after I preach so that I may be disqualified. 00:34:18.860 |
But the problem with their teaching was the discipline was what led them to God, right? 00:34:29.020 |
That was the false teaching, that if you kept these commandments, kept these laws, that 00:34:38.500 |
You have no power in and of yourself to do that, right? 00:34:42.460 |
All of these things, they look like they have wisdom. 00:34:53.580 |
If you think about it, in every religion, in every religion, the principle is pretty 00:35:11.060 |
That's the fundamental teaching of every religion, right? 00:35:18.000 |
And what that reward is, is gonna be different. 00:35:22.060 |
You work hard, be a good person, and good things will happen to you. 00:35:30.660 |
You can be good all your life and stand condemned before God. 00:35:44.900 |
So the point of the gospel is that only Christ and what he has done, and when we receive 00:35:50.300 |
it with faith, has the ability to transform us, right? 00:36:01.620 |
That's why he says you have to be born again. 00:36:02.820 |
He doesn't say, "Hey, Nicodemus, you're great. 00:36:06.660 |
You're a student, but you need to be A plus." 00:36:26.540 |
But even then, spiritually, like, "Well, how are you born again spiritually?" 00:36:32.780 |
No one knows when it comes and when it goes, right? 00:36:35.820 |
I have to be born again of the spirit, but I have no way of knowing when it's coming, 00:36:50.700 |
That was the point that he was trying to make. 00:36:52.740 |
And so all this self-work, again, one of the questions that I ask here for your discussion 00:36:59.620 |
at the end, if you look at it, the third question, "If man-imposed discipline has no value against 00:37:08.980 |
fleshly indulgence, what role does accountability and fellowship play in our sanctification?" 00:37:14.780 |
So the mistake that we can make is, since all this, like, "Don't touch this," and "Don't 00:37:20.420 |
do this," and all this is of the old covenant, right? 00:37:23.740 |
These are elementary things, and the reality is found in Christ, then why do we need to 00:37:49.100 |
Let me tell you, just so that you don't become a heretic. 00:37:58.140 |
So I gave a few verses, instead of me having a discussion with you, I gave a few verses 00:38:07.220 |
How do we reconcile the imperatives in the New Testament with what he says here? 00:38:12.980 |
All of that, like, this self, you know, doing this, I'm not going to do this, I'm going 00:38:18.240 |
Like, if all of that is false humility, it doesn't have the ability to change, right, 00:38:25.740 |
to change the flesh, then what part does the discipline play? 00:38:34.540 |
I'm taking a chance letting you discuss this. 00:38:38.180 |
So we've already, so all the small group leaders have been given the discussion questions ahead 00:38:53.660 |
So let me pray for us and then you guys can get into your group. 00:39:04.200 |
We pray, Father God, that in a time of discussion that you would lead us deeper into understanding 00:39:08.980 |
who you are, especially Lord God, as difficult as it is for us to leave behind our own flesh, 00:39:20.220 |
desiring to have glory, to become somebody, to become better than who we are now. 00:39:30.300 |
Help us to recognize what it means to be crucified with Christ, to really embrace, to live a 00:39:37.300 |
life, Lord God, that is hidden in him and eagerly waiting to be glorified when he comes 00:39:44.220 |
Teach us what that means in a practical way, that it would not simply be theory, but the 00:39:52.860 |
We pray for your guidance, Lord God, through our discussion.