ROMANS: 13: 8 -14. THE CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE IN SOCIETY
LAST TIME WE WERE IN ROMANS WE LOOKED AT THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CHRISTIAN. WE SAW THAT GOVERNMENTS ARE ESTABLISHED BY GOD V1 AND PEOPLE IN PUBLIC OFFICE ARE ACTUALLY SERVANTS OF GOD V4 AND THE PURPOSES OF GOVERNMENT WERE THREEFOLD TO ADMINISTER PROTECTION, PUNISHMENT AND PROMOTION OF SOCIETY AS A WHOLE.
OUR RESPONSE TO GOVERNMENT T WAS TO BE CITIZENS WHO SUBMIT TO THOSE IN AUTHORITY - TO BE LAW ABIDING CITIZENS – TO REMIND GOVERNMENTS OF THEIR HIGH CALLING - SPEAK UP TO GOVERNMENTS - ENCOURAGE MORE CHRISTIANS INTO PUBLIC OFFICE - AND OF COURSE PRAY FOR THOSE IN HIGH OFFICE.
ROM 12- 13. PAUL HAS SHOWN US HOW WE SHOULD CONDUCT OURSELVES IN THE CHURCH - TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER AS BROTHERS AND SISTERS, AS A CHRISTIAN SUBJECT TO THE GOVERNING AUTHORITIES. TODAY WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT THE OUTWORKING OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE WHAT WILL IT LOOK LIKE?
ON SATURDAY NIGHT NICK AND GLEN (FORGIVE ME FOR ANNOUNCING THIS BUT IT JUST SERVES AS AN ILLUSTRATION) WENT INTO THE CITY AND MINISTERED TO THOSE LIVING ROUGH ON THE STREETS , IT PROBABLY INVOLVED GIVING THEM SOMETHING TO EAT MAYBE, LISTENING TO THEIR LIFE STORY. PASSING ON SOME WARM CLOTHING MAYBE A HAT AND A SCARF FOR THESE SUB ZERO TEMPS WERE FACING AT THE MOMENT AND OF COURSE SHARING SOMETHING ABOUT JESUS TO THEM, GIVING THEM LITERATURE, PRAYING WITH THEM. OF COURSE ISN’T THIS WHERE JESUS WOULD BE ON A SATURDAY NIGHT? AND THE TYPE OF PEOPLE HE WOULD MINISTER TOO AND CHANGE AROUND?
BUT IMAGINE THE NEXT TIME THEY WENT OUT THEY SEE A MAN WHO CLOTHES ARE ABSOLUTELY FILTHY AND ARE SIMPLY RAGS AND THE MAN KNOWS IT HE ASKS FOR A FEW ODDMENTS OUT OF THEIR CLOTHES BAG. BUT NICK AND GLEN DECIDE TO TAKE HIM TO THE BEST MEN’S OUTFITTERS IN TOWN AND THEY CLOTH HIM IN THE MOST EXPENSIVE SUIT THERE IS......
AND NOW THEY SAY TO HIM CONDUCT YOURSELF IN THE MANNER FITTING TO YOUR ATTIRE – OF COURSE THAT MAN IS GOING TO FIND IT VERY DIFFICULT TO DO SO BECAUSE A NEW SUITE IS NOT REALLY GOING TO CHANGE HIS LIFESTYLE HABITS....
BUT WHEN A PERSON BECOMES A CHRISTIAN GOD HAS CLOTHED US IN HIS SONS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND WE ARE SEEN AND KNOWN AS HIS RIGHTEOUS ONES. OUTSIDE OF CHRIST A PERSON IS CLOTHED IN THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS – WHICH ARE FILTHY RAGS BEFORE GOD – AND NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE DRESS OURSELVES UP WE WILL REMAIN SINNERS – BOUND TO THE OLD NATURE.
YET IN CHRIST WE ARE CLOTHED IN HIS IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS NOT OUT OWN. AS SUCH GOD IS CALLING US TO LIVE THE CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE WHICH IS FITTING TO OUR NEW ATTIRE .
PAUL HAS TOLD US WE ARE DEAD TO SIN AND ALIVE TO CHRIST ROM 7-8. . THIS IS WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US.
IS OUR CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE BEFITTING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WE PROFESS TO HAVE IN CHRIST?
IN SOCIETY THERE HAS BEEN HUGE PARADIGM SHIFTS OVER THE YEARS, IN THE WAY PEOPLE LIVE OUT THEIR LIVES, WHEN YOU CONSIDER WAR TIME BRITAIN, TO THE SWINGING SIXTIES, TO THE NAUGHTY NINETIES TO THE 21ST CENTURY. LIFESTYLES OF PEOPLE IN BRITAIN HAVE CHANGED CONSIDERABLY. WHETHER IN THE REALM OF MORALS, ETHICS, LAWS, SOCIAL ATTITUDES, AND NORMS WHAT WERE ONCE TABOO AND UNACCEPTABLE HAVE BECOME NORMAL AND ACCEPTABLE. AND THAT WHICH WAS ONCE CONSIDERED RIGHT HAS BECOME WRONG AND INTOLERABLE , OUR SOCIETY IS CHANGING AT A RADICAL PACE............
HOW IS A CHRISTIAN TO LIVE OUT THEIR LIFE IN THIS TYPE OF ARENA?
IT’S IN THIS ARENA THAT THE CHRISTIAN HAS TO LIVE OUT HIS/HER LIFE, THEN IT SHOULD BE NO SURPRISE TO US TO SEE THE CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE HAS BEEN BLURRED – NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHAT IT IS .... YES THEY HAVE THE STEREO TYPES THAT PEOPLE MANUFACTURE IN REGARD TO CHRISTIANS BUT 9 TIMES OUT OF TEN THESE ARE NEVER THE GENUINE ARTICLE.
SADLY TO SPOT THE CHRISTIAN IN SOCIETY TODAY IS LIKE FINDING (WHERE’S WALLY BOOKS?).
SADLY MANY CHRISTIANS RATHER THAN BEING A TRANSFORMING INFLUENCE ARE STILL CONFORMING THEMSELVES TO THE PATTERN OF THIS WORLD. THEY HAVE BEEN CLOTHED WITH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST YET ARE GOING BACK TO THEIR FILTHY RAGS.
ROM 12: 2. SO WHAT WILL THE CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE LOOK LIKE IN SOCIETY TODAY? WILL IT BE JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE? WILL WE JUST BLEND IN? OR WILL WE STAND OUT LIKE A SAW THUMB, THE LATER I BELIEVE WE WILL BE DIFFERENT.........
1) LIFESTYLES THAT ARE UPRIGHT V8 - 10
A. ‘WILL BE SEEN IN HONESTY’ V8 LET NO DEBT BE OUTSTANDING
WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY WHICH IS OUT TO MAKE A QUICK BUCK, THAT CONSIDERS IT A GOOD TRAIT TO BE ABLE TO DODGE YOUR TAX RETURNS – TO BE ABLE TO MAKE VAST AMOUNTS OF MONEY WHATEVER THE MEANS . WE HAVE LIVED A TIME OF EASY CREDIT AND HAVE BEEN BORROWING MORE THAN THEY CAN AFFORD, NOW PEOPLE ARE PAYING THE PRICE FOR THE MONEY BORROWED THEY CANNOT PAY BACK.
I WATCHED A PROGRAMME ON THE INTERNET WHERE A COUPLE HAD AMASSED OVER £100.OOO IN DEBT AND YET THEY HAD BEGUN A PROCESS WHICH HAD UNEARTHED A LOOPHOLE IN THE CREDIT CARD AGREEMENTS WHERE THEY WOULD NEVER NEED TO PAY A PENNY BACK . THEY HAD BORROWED THE MONEY THEY HAD SPENT IT BUT WERE NOT GOING TO PAY IT BACK. THAT IS HOW WE ARE NOT TO BEHAVE.....
PRACTICALLY IT WILL BE SHOWN IN HONESTY .... A CHRISTIAN WILL PAY HIS/HER DEBTS WHETHER THAT IS OUR DEBT WE OWE TO GOD OR TO THE STATE IN TAXES (AS JESUS SAID, “RENDER ONTO CAESARS WHAT IS CAESARS AND ONTO GOD WHAT IS GODS” ) WHETHER TO THE BANKING INSTITUTION - YOUR MORTGAGE OR SIMPLY TO YOUR NEIGHBOUR WHOSE PASSED YOU A TEN POUNDS OVER THE GARDEN FENCE . WE ARE TO PAY ALL DEBTS – NOT LOOKING FOR CLAUSES AND LOOPHOLES;
WE ARE TO BE TRANSPARENT AND HONEST PEOPLE IN ALL OUR DEALINGS WITH OTHERS TO PAY ALL UNPAID DEBTS. LOOK WHAT GOD CALLS THOSE WHO FAIL TO REPAY THEIR DEBTS PSALM 37: 21 THE WICKED BORROW AND DO NOT REPAY, SO A CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE WILL BE HONEST ALWAYS.
THE ONLY DEBT WE SHOULD EVER OWE IS TO LOVE OTHERS - WE CAN NEVER EXHAUST THIS LOVE – WE CAN NEVER PAY OUR DUES IN LOVE TO ONE ANOTHER – WE WILL ALWAYS BE IN DEBT HERE TO LOVE. THIS LOVE WILL BE SEEN IN OUR HONESTY TOWARDS THEM.
2) LIFESTYLES THAT ARE LOVING. V9 - 10
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOVE TODAY I THINK WE BECOME VERY CONFUSED BECAUSE IT IS A WORD AND AN ACTION WHICH IS VERY MUCH MISUNDERSTOOD AND MISAPPLIED. AND EVEN THE CHRISTIAN LOVE THAT WE ARE CALLED TO SHOW IN LOVING GOD AND LOVING OUR NEIGHBOUR IS OFTEN MISCONSTRUED AND APPLIED BY CHRISTIANS TO SIMPLY LOVE OTHERS REGARDLESS , BRUSHING ASIDE GODS LAW AND ITS APPLICATION TO THEMSELVES AND TO OTHERS.
• THE REALITY IS THAT LOVE AND LAW ARE NOT OPPOSITES BUT PARTNERS V10 LOVE IS THE FULFILMENT OF THE LAW AS JESUS SAID (MATT 22:37 -40 )
IN OUR QUEST FOR LOVE SOME PROFESSING CHRISTIANS IGNORE THIS TRUTH AND SO THEY BECOME LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE, ESPOUSING TO LOVE EVERYBODY BUT ACTUALLY LOVING NOBODY BUT SELF, AND SELF BECOMES GOD. THE GOD OF THE WORLD. WHEN THIS HAPPENS THE CHRISTIAN LOSES THERE DISTINCTION AND LOVE BECOMES A GET OUT CLAUSE TO LET OTHERS DO AS THEY PLEASE AS YOU DO YOURSELF.
LOVE FULFILS THE LAW.
JESUS FULFILLED THE LAW AS HE LOVED, HE DIDN’T NEGATE THE LAW AND JUST LOVED PEOPLE (I LOVE YOU) IT BUT APPLIED IT TO OTHERS WHETHER IT WAS TO THE PHARISEES IN REGARD TO THEIR HYPOCRITICAL ACTIONS OR TO A WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY BRINGING HERE TO A REALITY CHECK OF HER ACTIONS , TO HIS OWN DISCIPLES AND THE TRUE COST OF FOLLOWING HIM AND TIMES HIS LOVE WAS A TOUGH LOVE BECAUSE HE FULFILLED THE LAW WITH A LIFESTYLE OF LOVE RIGHT BEFORE THEIR EYES, THIS IS THE LIFESTYLE OF LOVE THAT GOD REQUIRES FROM US.
WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? PAUL REVEALS TO US IN V 9 -10 IF WE TRULY LOVE OUR NEIGHBOURS AND WISH THEM NO HARM THE COMMANDMENTS ARE GOOD PLUMB LINE TO LIVE OUT AS A LIFESTYLE IN SOCIETY.
V9 YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY... WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE COMMIT ADULTERY OUR NEIGHBOUR GETS HURT WE ARE FAILING TO LOVE THEM.
YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER... WHAT HAPPENS WHEN OTHERS MURDER (OR AS JESUS SAID EVEN GET ANGRY WITH OUR BROTHER) OUR NEIGHBOUR GETS HURT WE ARE FAILING TO LOVE THEM.
YOU SHALL NOT STEAL.... WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE STEAL OUR NEIGHBOUR GETS HURT WE ARE FAILING TO LOVE THEM.
YOU SHALL NOT COVET...... WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE COVET OUR NEIGHBOUR GETS HURT AND WE ARE FAILING TO LOVE THEM.
AND WHAT EVER COMMAND THEIR BE ARE SUMMED UP IN THIS ONE COMMAND “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF”
SO ALL THE COMMANDS ARE SUMMED UP WITH ONE COMMAND TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOUR AS WE LOVE OURSELVES. SO REAL LOVE TOWARDS OTHERS WILL NOT IGNORE, NEGLECT, ABDICATE OR EXCUSE THE LIFESTYLES OF OTHERS AND THEIR OWN. BUT WILL LIVE OUT LIFESTYLES OF LOVE BY FULFILLING THE LAW IN SOCIETY, CHARACTERISED BY RIGHT LIVING IN SOCIETY AT LARGE.
THIS TYPE OF CHRISTIAN WILL NOT BE SEEN BY YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS ONE TO BE AVOIDED, TO BE SEEN AS ODD BUT AS ONE TO BE THE MOST TRUSTED NEIGHBOUR OF ALL.
3) LIFESTYLES WHICH ARE DIFFERENT V11 – 14.
WHEN YOU ARE OUTSIDE OF THIS CHURCH AWAY FROM THE FELLOWSHIP AND OUT IN THE WORLD OR BEHIND YOUR OWN FOUR WALLS DOES YOUR CHARACTER CHANGE? DO YOU CHANGE LIKE THE IGUANA AND BLEND INTO YOUR SURROUNDINGS.
ARE YOU LIKE A THERMOMETER OR A THERMOSTAT ... DO YOU JUST GO ALONG WITH THE TEMPERATURE IN THE ROOM IN A GIVEN SITUATION SO AS THE TEMPERATURE RISES SO DO YOU. OR ARE YOU LIKE A THERMOSTAT ABLE TO CONTROL THE TEMPERATURE IN A ROOM .
WE ARE CALLED TO LIVE LIFESTYLES WHICH ARE DIFFERENT.... DO YOU DAILY ASK YOURSELF (W.W.J.D ) MANY PEOPLE USE THAT STATEMENT IN A WRONG WAY: CONDONING THEIR LIFESTYLE CHOICES IN BEING LIKE THE WORLD. WELL JESUS WOULD PUT HIMSELF IN AWKWARD SITUATIONS HE MIXED WITH SINNERS AND TAX COLLECTORS, BUT YOU AND I NEED TO REMEMBER YOUR NOT JESUS! HE WAS THE PERFECT SON OF GOD WHO NEVER FELL FROM TEMPTATION AND NEVER SINNED, WE DO.
A. LIFESTYLES WHICH ARE WATCHFUL..... V11 -12 JESUS IS COMING AGAIN .... WHAT WILL HE FIND YOU DOING? WE NEED TO AWAKE OUT OF SLUMBER V11 WE ARE CHILDREN OF LIGHT AND NOT DARKNESS WE ARE TO PUT ASIDE THOSE THINGS THAT WE ONCE DID AND NOT CONTINUE IN THEM.... UNBELIEVERS ARE THE ONES WHO ARE ASLEEP OBLIVIOUS TO THE TRUTH OF HIS RETURN
V12 ASK YOURSELF WHEN CHRIST RETURNS WHAT WILL HE FIND YOU DOING.....
B. V13 LIFESTYLES WHICH ARE DECENT.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN DOWN IN LEICESTER CITY ON A SATURDAY DAY TIME , PEOPLE GOING ABOUT THEIR SHOPPING BEHAVING DECENTLY AS A WHOLE BUT AS NIGHT FALLS THE CITY CENTRE TAKES ON A NEW FORM . YOUNG AND OLD ALIKE MEN AND WOMEN SCANTILY DRESSED INEBRIATED , THUGS INTENT ON VIOLENCE, INDIVIDUAL MEN AND WOMEN WITH ONE THING ON THEIR MIND SEXUAL IMMORALITY WITH WHOEVER, WEEK AFTER WEEK , ALL TYPES OF DISSENSION AND JEALOUSIES TAKE PLACE FIGHTS BREAK OUT. HERE WE SEE INDIVIDUALS GRATIFYING THEIR SINFUL NATURE PEOPLE WHO DWELL IN DARKNESS, PEOPLE WHO ARE IN SLUMBER.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE – ARE YOU ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE - IF SO YOU NEED TO TURN AWAY - A CHRISTIAN NEEDS TO BE DIFFERENT NOT LIKE IT.... WE ARE TO BE DECENT LIVING HOLY LIVES THAT IS THE CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE NOT AN OPTION.
OF COURSE ALL THIS REQUIRES REAL SACRIFICE THE SACRIFICE THAT PAUL SPOKE OF EARLIER LIVING SACRIFICES ROM12:1- 2 ITS IN THESE SPECIFIC AREAS WE ARE NOT TO CONFORM TO THE WORLD BUT BE A TRANSFORMING INFLUENCE UPON IT. THIS IS THE TRUE MEASURE OF WHETHER OUR CONSECRATION IS TOWARDS GOD OR OUR OLD SINFUL NATURE.
V14 RATHER CLOTHE YOURSELVES WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND DO NOT THINK ABOUT GRATIFYING THE DESIRES OF THE SINFUL NATURE.
IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN THIS MORNING AT SOME POINT IN YOUR LIFE GOD HAS CLOTHED YOU IN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST , HE HAS CALLED YOU TO LIVE A LIFESTYLE WHICH IS IN KEEPING TO THE ATTIRE HE HAS CLOTHED YOU IN . MAY GOD HELP US ALL TO DO JUST THAT BY HIS SPIRIT AND THROUGH HIS WORD.
AMEN
