Living Righteously in an Unrighteous World

unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
6. "If you are living in a world where everyone limps, a person who walks normally is considered abnormal." – Peter Lord, Kent Crockett’s Sermon Illustrations, www.kentcrockett.com
7. It is possible to remain faithful in a sinful world. A scuba diver takes his environment with him: he lives in the water, but he breathes the air. In the same way Christians are to be in the world, but not of the world.
8. 1 John 2:15 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
9. Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.”
B. Daniel – lived resolutely and undefiled under a repressive government
1. Daniel 6:6-10 “All the governors of the kingdom, the administrators and satraps, the counselors and advisors, have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree, that whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which does not alter." Therefore King Darius signed the written decree. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.”
2. Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”
3. As Christians we are called on to be good law abiding citizens who support and pray for our leaders.
4. 1 Peter 2:13-15 “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men
5. But what are we to do when the laws of men come in conflict with the laws of God? Realize that Christianity was established by one whom the authorities considered a criminal. Christians living the Christian life will inevitably come into conflict with the world system. Scripture provides numerous examples of occasions where godly men and women and even Christ, Himself, knowingly and deliberately broke human laws that countered God’s law.
6. Acts 5:29 “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men.”
C. Job – lived uprightly with a captious clan
1. Job lived under the roof of an overly critical wife and among friends that tended to find fault and make trivial and excessive criticisms of him.
2. Job 2:7-10 “So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the