From His Heart

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Nobody lives a Christian life perfectly. But we we don' allow ourselves to fall into ditch of license and say it's okay. I can live however I want. No. We say Lord I'm struggling with this sin, but I want to walk on the narrow road of grace and truth with you to please you in all respects bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Hey, if you want the fruit of the spirit, you can have it by grace.

Larry Nobles: On either side of that narrow road that leads to life, you have two ditches. There's the ditch of legalism on one side and the ditch of license on the other. And on today's edition of From His Heart, we want to discuss license. Is God's grace such a safety net that it allows Christians a license to sin? This is From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve. And today's message, a license to sin from the seven lesson series Beyond Amazing, Understanding the Grace of God. If you like more information about this series or today's message, go to fromhishart.org.

Turn in your Bible to the book of Galatians in chapter five as Pastor Jeff begins to reveal what type of license God does provide for his children.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Since Christians are under grace and not under law, do we have a license to sin? Truth number one. The devil works hard to try and hinder your progress and my progress in the Christian life. And so he keeps working on you to get you into the ditch of legalism so that you quit growing or into the ditch of license so that you quit growing. Paul said in Galatians 5:7, you were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? That's what the devil does. He works hard to try and hinder your progress. And the devil, as we talk about the ditch of license, the devil promotes a gospel of perverted grace.

Jude said this. Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, man I just wanted to write to you and encourage you. I felt the necessity to write to a to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Why? For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who are long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons. And why are they ungodly? Because they turned the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only master and Lord Jesus Christ.

They pervert the grace of God and they say the grace of God means you have a license to sin. The devil promotes a gospel of perverted grace and the devil will always try to deceive us regarding sin. He's a deceiver. That's what he does. Jesus said he's a liar and the father of lies. Now the the ditch of license, well what does that say? That says, hey it doesn't matter what you do. God's grace covers you. So just live it up. Do whatever you want. That sounds good. But there's a lie in there. So the devil will always try to deceive us regarding sin.

And remember this. The ones who practice sin are probably not saved. Now I didn't say that. That's what the Lord says in Galatians chapter five. He talks about the deeds of the flesh. Verse 19. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident. And then he gives a list of 15 things and he adds one just for good measure and things like these. What does he say? Now the deeds of the flesh are evident which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these of which I forewarn you just as I have also forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now that doesn't say that those who have ever committed those things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. It's those who practice such things. So the devil works hard to try and hinder your progress and my progress and our progress to get us in. If he can't get you in the ditch of legalism, he's going to try and get you in the ditch of license. Second truth. True Christian freedom is freedom to joyfully obey God. That's what it is. It it it was for freedom. Galatians 5:1. It was for freedom that Christ set us free.

Verse 13. For you were called to freedom, brethren. Freedom from what? Freedom not to sin, freedom from sin. The Lord set us free from sin and guilt and shame so that we can live for Christ. Hey, you mark it down. Christians never unhitch from the commands of God. That that's not what being a Christian is, to unhitch from the commands of God. Hey, I can just do whatever I want. That's why it says in verse 13, for you were called to freedom, brethren. Only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh. But through love serve one another.

The word for opportunity means a base of operations. It's a military term. Don't turn it into this base of operations to indulge the flesh. That's not what true freedom is. That's not what the Lord did when he saved you. Now Jesus said this in Matthew 5:17. Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. So if Jesus didn't come to abolish the law and the prophets, why in the world would we throw away the law and the prophets and say, well that doesn't we don't ever study that.

We don't look at that. We just unhitch ourselves from that. There is tons to learn from the law and the prophets. Now remember this. When the Lord set us free from the law, as we read in Galatians 5:1 through 12, the things like outward things, circumcision, that's a requirement of the law. That 's a ceremonial requirement of the law. Washings is a ceremonial requirement of the law. The things that they had to do to approach God, those things are ceremonial. They had dietary restrictions. They had restrictions on what they were to wear. All those things are gone in Jesus Christ.

And but but when it comes to the moral commands of God, that hasn't changed. So we say thou shalt not obey the Ten Commandments. Does that mean because I'm a Christian, because I am under grace that I can now murder, I can now steal, I can now covet, I can commit adultery, I can take God's name in vain, I can worship other gods? Well that's ridiculous. Of course it doesn't mean that. Those commands are the moral commands of God. And the moral commands of God reveal the person and the heart and the nature of God.

Well why does God say you shall not lie? Because it's abhorrent to God. It's so far against his nature because the Lord is truth and honesty. And anything that would be different from truth and honesty would be abhorrent to his nature. To steal. God would never steal. Take something that doesn't belong to him. That's abhorrent to his nature. To murder. To commit adultery. All those things are against the the character and the nature of God. And so we never unhitch from the commands of God. We unhitch obviously from dietary laws. The Bible makes that clear.

Read Acts chapter 10 and then the sheet that came down with the unclean animals. And the Lord says to Peter, arise Peter, kill and eat. Oh no Lord, I'll never do that. I can't eat. I can't have a ham sandwich. You know that. And he said, what God is cleansed no longer consider unholy. It's okay. The dietary restrictions are gone in Christ. The externals are gone in Christ. The moral law, that's not gone cuz that's the character and the nature of God. So don't turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh. But through love serve one another.

Interesting. So we're free, but he said through love serve one another. The word for serve is from the root doulos which means the lowest slave. And so as a Christian, I'm not a slave to the law, but I'm a slave to Christ. I'm a slave to the to the commands of Christ, to obeying Christ cuz that's how I show that I love him when I obey him and I'm a slave to another person. I'm a slave to others, but through love serve one another. So it's kind of a paradox. So I'm free, but I 'm enslaved.

I am free from the law. I am free from guilt and shame, but I am enslaved to Jesus. I am enslaved to obeying him, doing what he says. And I am enslaved to other people to make a difference in their lives. But through love serve one another. See a true love for God and for people fulfills the law. That's what he says in verse 14. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word in the statement, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Hey, if I love my neighbor as myself, you know what? I'm going to fulfill the law.

Paul says the same thing in Romans chapter 13. In Romans 13, he says this. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, you shall not commit adultery. You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not covet. And if there's any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law. Now interesting, very interesting. In the Old Testament, for first five books, the book of Moses, first five books, the the religious leaders counted up and said 613 laws is what we find in the book of Moses, 613.

How do we serve God? Well we keep these 613 laws. Now Moses had 10 laws on two tablets of stone written by the finger of God. So from 613 then we come down, we have 10 four vertical, our relationship with the Lord, six horizontal, our relationship with other people. In the book of Micah, what does God require of you but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God? So from 613 to 10 to three and then in the New Testament, Matthew 22, they asked Jesus, what is the greatest commandment in the law?

That was a a typical thing they would argue about, the religious leaders. And Jesus said the greatest commandment, he didn't go to the 613, he didn't go to the the 10, he didn't go to the three. He said the greatest commandment, Deuteronomy chapter six, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And then Leviticus 19:80 18 and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets. They hang on love. Vertical love. I love God with all that I am and I love other people.

If you will love God with all that you are and love other people, you know what? You're going to keep the commandments.

Larry Nobles: We'll continue to explore this concept with Pastor Jeff in just a moment. Reminder first that every single day of the year, your generosity helps From His Heart place the truth of God's word before people around the world who desperately need to hear it. Some are carrying guilt they've hidden for years. Some are exhausted from trying to earn God's approval. Others are gradually drifting from the Lord, wondering if they've wandered too far to come back. Through your support to From His Heart, they're discovering that God's grace is greater than their guilt, stronger than their failures, and sufficient for every step of the Christian life.

This month, Pastor Jeff is in his series Beyond Amazing, Understanding the Grace of God. And this dynamic and encouraging set of messages is our gift of thanks to you for your support of any amount to From His Heart this month. And you can receive all seven messages on a USB flash drive on CDs. You can watch the program on DVDs or an immediate MP3 download, your choice. Just go to fromhishart.org or call 866-40 Bible. 866-40 Bible to make that gift today. And we'll send you the series Beyond Amazing, Understanding the Grace of God. You'll be blessed and we will be too.

Thank you for your part in helping this happen around the world and in your hometown through the outreach of From His Heart. Now the conclusion to a license to sin. Here again is Pastor Jeff.

Dr. Jeff Schreve: I heard about a story years ago. I've never forgotten it. It's about this woman that was married to this man who was a a good man, but he was a very exacting man. And he had lots of things for her to do. You have to do all these things to be in good graces with me. And so much so that he put it down on paper all the things that she was supposed to do, very precise and very exact, all these things that you have to do in order to be a good wife to me.

Well she didn't do very well on that. He would pull out the list often and say, well you didn't do this and you didn't do that and you didn't do the other. And they didn't have a great relationship to say the least and she felt very defeated because she couldn't keep the rules. Well then he died. And some time went by. She began to date a wonderful man and that man loved her for who she was and that man married her and that man treated her so well and that man had such kindness and compassion and care for her.

She so loved him. One day she was doing some housework and she was cleaning out an old drawer and she found in that old drawer that list that she had from her first husband that he had given her of all these rules that she was supposed to keep in order to be a good wife. And she looked at that list and she said, you know what? I'm doing everything on that list for my new husband. And I'm not doing it out of rule keeping it. I'm doing it out of love. And it just naturally flows because I love my husband.

See that's the picture of the law. It comes and it says you do all these things and externally we are trying to do all these things. We can't do it. But then you come to Christ and you receive his grace and you receive his love and you grow and in grace and knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and you start to obey him not out of obligation, but out of love. And that's what God wants. He wants you to do what he says because you love him, because you want to, not because you have to.

It's because you want to. Because Lord I love you. And then truth number three. True Christian freedom is found in yielding to the Holy Spirit of God. That's how you find true Christian freedom. You yield to the Holy Spirit of God. Now verse 16 says this, but I say walk by the spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh for the flesh sets its desire against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. For these are in opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you please.

There's a battle within every true Christian. There's a battle inside between the flesh and the spirit because when you become a Christian, you receive the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit comes in. And the Holy Spirit comes in to take over. But the flesh says, hey I've been running the show for all these years and the flesh does not want to give up control. So there's a battle inside. The flesh sets its desire against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh for these are in opposition to one another. So that you may not do the things that you please.

You say what exactly is the flesh? F l e s h. Take off the h and spell it backwards. The flesh is s e l f. It's self. I want what I want when I want it. I want to be the captain of my own ship, the master of my own domain. I want to do what I want to do. That's the flesh. Flesh doesn't want to do right. The flesh wants to feel right, feel good. And so that is going to fight against the spirit. And every Christian experiences the battle within. Every Christian knows what's that what that's like.

If you don't have that kind of a battle within, then it's probably because the Holy Spirit is not there. He does not have the spirit of Christ. He is none of his. You don't belong to him. It's when you come to Christ that you feel that that battle inside. You've probably heard the the story that's been told for many many years about the American Indian that was led to Christ as a young man in his late teens and came to the missionary and said, I'm really struggling. He said, I want to do what's right. I want to please God.

I want to live according to the commands of God, but I'm struggling with sin. And the missionary said, well go on. Tell me what it's like inside. He said, well it's kind of like this. He said, it's like there are two dogs inside of me. One wants to do good and one wants to do evil and they're constantly fighting. And he said, well who wins the fight? And the man thought for a moment and he said, it's the one I feed the most. The one I feed the most wins the fight. Hey, you're feeding the spirit or you're feeding the flesh?

If you feed the flesh, you're going to lose. If you feed the spirit, you'll win. Do not be deceived. It says in Galatians 6. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the spirit shall from the spirit reap eternal life. Two natures dwell within my breast. The poem says, two natures dwell within my breast. One is foul and one is blessed. One I love and one I hate, but the one I feed will dominate.

Every Christian knows what that is like. And every Christian can choose to walk by the spirit over the flesh. You can, I can, we can. We can walk by the spirit and not carry out the desire of the flesh. Verse 22 says this, but the fruit of the spirit, after it gives all the deeds of the flesh, those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the spirit, let us also walk by the spirit. That's the invitation to every believer. Walk by the spirit. Inside, you have the Holy Spirit inside and the flesh sets its desire against the spirit. Yield yourself to the Holy Spirit. Let him take charge. Let him lead you. Let me read to you just quickly in closing. Romans chapter six says this. Clearly, you once offered offered all the parts of your body as slaves to sexual perversion and disobedience.

This led you to live disobedient lives. Now in the same way, offer all the parts of your body as slaves that do what God approves of. This leads you to live holy lives. When you are slaves to sin, you are free from doing what God approves of. What did you gain by doing those things? You're ashamed of what you used to do because it ended in death. Now you have been freed from sin and have become God's slaves. This results in a holy life and finally in everlasting life. Scripture tells us this. I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Every day we need to come before the Lord, say here I am Lord. I belong to you. I offer myself as a living sacrifice. I want your spirit to be in control of me. I want to spend time with you so I feed the inner man, so that I feed the one in me that wants to produce love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and faithfulness and self-control. I'm a living sacrifice. What's the problem with a living sacrifice? You know they had dead sacrifices. They would tie them up and they would kill them on the altar.

It was a dead sacrifice. Dead sacrifice doesn't move. Living sacrifice can move. So we're offered on the altar and then something happens that you know we offer ourselves at 6:00 a.m. And then at 10:00 a.m. we're like, I'm going over here. We we move off the altar. We have to keep coming before the Lord and say, Lord nobody lives a Christian life perfectly. But we we don't allow ourselves to fall in the ditch of license and say it's okay. I can live however I want. No. We say Lord I'm struggling with this sin, but I want to walk on the narrow road of grace and truth with you to please you in all respects bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

Hey, if you want the fruit of the spirit, you can have it by grace.

Larry Nobles: Oh what a wonderful truth and thought to bury into our hearts and have it immediately available when we stray. If you've been living in the ditch of sin, going to ask you to make a decision today to walk in the light of God's grace and truth. I'm not asking you. The Holy Spirit is asking you. Or maybe you know that you've never been saved, but you'd like to have victory in your life rather than defeat, then the Bible tells us that we need to repent of our sin and ask Jesus sincerely to come into our hearts and make us new.

And if you do that, he will. You'll be changed for now and for eternity. Just go to the y Jesus link at fromhishart.org and learn more about what it means to become a child of God and what your next journey step should be. Again, that's the y Jesus link at fromhishart.org. Before we go, we wanted to let you know that Pastor Jeff will be visiting the Holy Land in April next year for an incredible 10-day trip. That's April the second through the 11th. It's an experience of a lifetime. You can find out all the details when you go to fromhishart.org and just click the Holy Land trip banner on the homepage.

Well thank you for joining us today on From His Heart. I'm Larry Nobles, inviting you to return tomorrow for the next lesson in Pastor Jeff's series Beyond Amazing. Be with us on Thursday for the lesson Insulting the Spirit of Grace right here on From His Heart.