Running To Win

Guest (Male): Let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Believers in Christ have a whole new life, a life with new desires that God satisfies deeply as we walk in His light.

Today, more reasons why Christians are indeed children of an awesome God. Stay with us. From The Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line.

Guest (Male): Pastor Lutzer, many Christians struggle with the tyranny of sin. Do Paul's writings in Romans 8 give us hope that we can be free from the temptations around us?

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, the answer is yes, and the reason is because God gave us resources in Christ.

But you know, Dave, those resources have to be accessed. And part of that is intentional obedience to God, intentional discipline, by which we are able to participate in all that God has done for us.

That's why I believe so deeply that the book I'm holding in my hands, a book entitled The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, is going to be of such great help to people.

It will break down all of the excuses we have for a holy life. It will help us to understand that holiness is actually something that should be pursued by every Christian.

It demystifies holiness, if I can put it that way, and helps us realize that when the Bible says, "Be holy for I am holy," God gives us the resources to obey that command.

And at the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you some contact info as to how this resource can be yours. For now, let us listen.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: You see, what God is saying is that when you are in Christ, there is a new law that delivers you from all of the things that the folks who are in Adam have to do.

You do not have to give in to the devil. You do not have to fall into the same temptation over and over again. There are resources that have been given to you.

Now, it is true that when we are Christians, God disciplines us and deals with us. You know, when the sons of Noah were there in the ark, did that mean that they were perfect? No.

Did that mean that they always got along? No. They probably had to ask forgiveness for themselves and perhaps in relationship to their father. It could well be that even God was disciplining them in the ark, but they were saved from the wrath of God. They were saved so far as God's anger was concerned.

We could say that in that ark, there was no condemnation because they were there by God's good hand. And so the Apostle Paul says that there is now another principle that enables us to live differently, but we're all living within the ark.

There is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. We have a brand new identity. The implications are overwhelming. We're going to learn in this series of messages that because you are in Christ, you're going to inherit everything that Jesus has. It is going to boggle your mind. You're going to say this is too good to be true.

Notice also that we have a a new focus. Actually, verses three and four explain, by the way, why we are free from the law of sin and death because God did, through Christ, what the law couldn't do. That's basically verses three and four.

But you'll notice in verse five, those who live according to the flesh, and the flesh now isn't the body. There's nothing wrong with a body. The body is neutral.

I can take this pen out of my pocket and I can write a check and help somebody, or I can write a a very awful letter and destroy somebody. The pen is neutral, the body is neutral.

The flesh has a reference to that old nature, the principle, the propensity that you and I have to satisfy all of our lusts and desires outside of the purity and the holiness of God and His will.

So what He's saying is, is that all those who are in Adam are in the flesh. For those who live according to the flesh, set their mind on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit, set their minds on the things of the spirit.

To set your mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. This is striking. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, and it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Wow, what he's saying is.

As long as you're in Adam and you've never received Christ as savior so that you are in Christ, you absolutely can't please God, even though you may do many good things.

Because good things done by human beings are tainted still with sin and wrong motives. Those who are in Adam, in the flesh, cannot please God.

Well, how do you begin to set your mind on the spiritual things? You can't do that unless God creates a new nature within you to give you the desire to do it.

We are all basically desire driven, no question about that. We do ultimately what we think is best for us, and that may be true of Christians and non-Christians. That's a separate topic actually.

Except to say this, that the people who are in Adam will always choose for themselves. They may use God, but they will never really love God, because God has to create that love within our hearts. We do not have it naturally.

Do you see, by the way, how utterly foolish it is for someone to think that they are a Christian simply because they go to church?

You talk to somebody and you say, "Now, are you a Christian?" And they'll say, "Oh yeah, I attend such and such a church and and we go there." Well, wow, that's interesting. So that makes you a Christian?

How does going to church change your desires so that you are no longer focused on the flesh, but focused on the things of the spirit? It can't do it.

Now, we go to church so that we might learn how to be in Christ and to grow in Christ, but simply going to church doesn't do it. It would be like a tiger who wakes up some morning and says, "From now on, I'm not going to love meat anymore. I am going to decide that I am going to love hay."

And so he wakes up saying, "Why can't I love hay?" His nature won't let him love it. The only way a tiger can love hay is if you changed his nature, his very nature as a tiger, and turned him into a calf. Now he can love hay.

You cannot set your mind on the things of the spirit if you're still in the flesh. What does Paul say? It cannot be done. It just can't be. And going to church in itself doesn't do it.

There was an evangelist back in the 1920s whose name was Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday played for the Chicago White Sox and at one time, and he became an evangelist and he loved to hop around. I have in my study a letter sent to me by a woman who was here shortly after the church was dedicated where Billy Sunday preached, and apparently, he hopped from this platform to the other platform by not using the stairs. He was very active in his preaching.

And his funeral was here, by the way. But Billy Sunday used to say that going to church will no more make you a Christian than pushing a wheelbarrow into a garage will make it into a car. And that's right.

You don't change the nature of a wheelbarrow because it's in the garage. Something has to happen within you. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, the Apostle Paul says.

So we have a brand new identity. We are in Christ. And we're going to study what that means in the rest of this wonderful transforming chapter. We have a brand new focus. We begin now to focus on the things of the spirit, and not just the things of the flesh.

But we also have a new companion. The Apostle Paul, I think, uses the word Holy Spirit or Spirit about 15 or 20 times in this chapter. But let's be introduced to Him this morning very, very briefly.

You'll notice he says in verse nine, "You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ doesn't belong to Him." Spirit of Christ, of course, is the Holy Spirit.

"But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, you'll notice he doesn't say flesh. Remember I told you that when you read this chapter, you are overwhelmed by its accuracy."

Paul says, "The body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life." Here's the thing. When you receive Christ as Savior, your spirit is renewed. That's why it can go to heaven, even though your body goes to the grave, but the body is not renewed.

You die of cancer, you die of old age, you die of a hundred different ways. The body is not renewed. But the spirit is renewed.

But the Holy Spirit, who renews your spirit, is the same Holy Spirit who will someday quicken or raise your body from the dead.

"The spirit is life because of righteousness." Verse 11, "If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies," you see. He's talking about the fact that Jesus was raised, your body will be raised.

Because even after you accept Christ, your body still is full of disease and old age and all those other things that lead you to the grave. But your spirit within is renewed. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation."

Well, as I told you last week, I always find so much more to say than time to say it. But I would like to give you some summary statements that will leave here that will make us today invigorated and given hope.

Very quickly, first, being in Christ means that we are in a world, in a sphere of safety, of security, and there is no condemnation from God. Wow, remember this, Noah.

When he went into the ark, God, the Bible says, closed the door. Why did God close the door? Why didn't he just say, "Hey, Noah, look, when you got the whole thing built, turn out the lights and close the door behind you?" God did it. God says, "This is a door that's locked from the outside.

This is a door that you can't get out of. This is a door that is secure, and with all those who are in the ark, there is no judgment, no final judgment, no condemnation. And I will close the door to make sure it is there."

Some of you are believers, but you're struggling with the whole issue of assurance. That'll be dealt with also today somewhat and in future messages.

What it's also going to mean, this business of being in Christ, it's just going to boggle our minds. We're going to discover that all the wealth that Jesus has is ours, and not only that, the same love that the Father has for the Son, He loves us with the same love because we are in Christ.

Safety, security, certainty, and it'll carry you all the way to heaven. Second, to be in Christ is the answer to guilt. You see, there is, therefore, now no condemnation.

Now we condemn ourselves. As I mentioned, as Christians, we sometimes have to deeply repent, but we do so within the ark, so to speak. "There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ."

God has legally acquitted us of all of the crimes that we've committed against Him. And much of the condemnation is brought on by ourselves.

Satan loves to use our memories. He says, "Abraham, remember the lie that you told?" And he says, "David, remember Bathsheba?" And he says, "Peter, do you remember the rooster?"

And he says to Paul, "You remember you were consenting to the death of Stephen? Remember that?" And he says to a young mother today, "Remember that abortion?" And to a man, "Remember the marriage you wrecked?"

My friend, after we've done all that we can to ask forgiveness of those whom we have wronged. After we've done all that we can and admitted our own sin specifically in God's presence, within the ark, there comes a time when we simply have to say, "God's grace is greater than our sins, and there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." Wow.

Finally, would you remember that the Gospel is really God's ability, God's ability to take something evil, and in return, give us something good? What is the Gospel?

The Gospel is simply to say, "Jesus," as Luther did, "Jesus, I am Thy sin, and Thou art my righteousness." That's the Gospel. I today am Jesus Christ's sin, but He is my righteousness.

You say, "Well, Pastor Lutzer, how do we get into Christ?" You described in Adam, in Christ. How do we do it? Well, in the newspaper a couple of years ago, there was an article by a man by the name of Bill who was 67 years old. Interesting age. 67 years old.

He has given more than 100 pints of blood in his lifetime. Sure, he saved the lives of many, many people because of his generosity.

Somebody said, "Why did you do it?" He said these words, and I'll quote them directly, "When that final whistle blows and God asks, 'What did you do?' I'll say, 'Well, I gave 100 pints of blood.'" And then he said with a bit of a laugh, "That ought to get me in." Tragic.

He's trusting the wrong blood. This morning, I could hardly hold back the tears as I read in Romans 5 and reminded myself of these words. "Having been justified by His blood, we are saved from wrath through Him."

The blood of Christ, symbolizing, of course, His death for us, and the sacrifice He made, we are justified by that blood.

You know, sometimes when soloists and musicians write songs, they are inspired. Maybe not like the Bible is, but what inspiration came upon Charles Wesley when he wrote these amazing words, "And can it be that I should gain an interest in my Savior's blood? Died He for me who caused His pain, for me who him to death pursued. Amazing love, how can it be that Thou, my God, should die for me?"

And then the last stanza is, "No condemnation now I dread. Jesus and all in Him is mine, alive in Him my living head and clothed in righteousness divine."

Two categories of people are going to be singing this hymn in just a moment. Those of you who have trusted Christ, I pray that you will sing it with a sense of worship, enthusiasm, and joy, the likes of which maybe you've not had in a long while.

Those of you who have never trusted Christ as Savior, why don't you sing it as your prayer and say, "I receive the Christ about whom I sing. I trust Him. I trust His sacrifice that I might be in Christ, for there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ."

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. I want to just mention this to you that when it comes to the Christian life, we must understand that on the one hand, there's no condemnation to them who are in Jesus Christ. But on the other hand, we are also commanded to pursue holiness.

Because it is in that pursuit that we begin to enter into all that God has prepared for us. And that is done by intentional obedience and intentional discipline. So God does His part, but we have to do our part.

And a desire for holiness is actually birthed in our hearts when we receive Jesus Christ as Savior. You say, "Well, Pastor Lutzer, how do I put all of this together?"

Well, the resource that I'm holding entitled The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges is going to help you do just that. We're making it available for a gift of any amount. Sure hope that you have a pen or pencil handy, because I'd like to give you that contact info.

Here's what you can do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com, or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. This book has been of help to hundreds and thousands of Christians. Once again, right now, go to rtwoffer.com.

Guest (Male): It's time again for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. A listener named Pierce got in touch with us, and he wants a book review from Pastor Lutzer. He says, "I'm concerned about Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol."

Brown talks about Freemasonry and seems to include many Gnostic ideas in his book. What do you think about his views?

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well, that, of course, is a long story. Thank you so much for asking me about it. Just the other day, in an airport, I saw the book for sale, The Lost Symbol. I didn't buy a copy, and I don't intend to read it. But one of the books by Dan Brown that I did read is, of course, The Da Vinci Code.

As a matter of fact, I wrote a book against The Da Vinci Code entitled The Da Vinci Deception. So I'm well aware of the way in which he promotes his ideas. Now, even though I've not read The Lost Symbol, I can tell you in advance that what Dan Brown probably does is to use some ancient documents and give them credibility.

That's, of course, what he did in The Da Vinci Code. In fact, he gave the Gnostic gospels so much credibility, more credibility than those of the New Testament.

The second thing that he will do is to read into those documents things that aren't even there and make assumptions. He will have dots that seem to connect even though there is no real connection.

And then what he does is, of course, spin a very wonderful, exciting story. So we must be very careful. A word about the Gnostic gospels.

The Gnostic gospels were written by people who believed that they could harmonize Greek mythology and Greek philosophy with Christianity. In order to give their ideas credibility, they wrote their documents attributing them to the apostles. So you get the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip. But everyone knows that they're fraudulent documents.

And if you've ever read them, you'll understand why we know that they are fraudulent. They have no such things as the earmarks of actually being historical.

Now, for all of those reasons, we need to remember that if we want to find real history, we have to go back to the Bible. And when we do that, we discover in the New Testament stories about Jesus that have all of the marks of being authentic and historical.

They're references to times and places and rivers and cities and people, and when you read it, you know that you're reading something that is true.

Well, my friend, you may or may not read The Lost Symbol. I have no plans to read it. But this much I know, that the Word of God stands sure, and whatever Dan Brown says must be judged by what the Bible has to say. Have a good day all day.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Pierce, for your question. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer, for those perspectives. If you'd like to hear one of your questions answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or call us at 1-888-218-9337. That's 1-888-218-9337.

You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614.

Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. What if you found you're an heir to a fortune and didn't know it? An heir, that's exactly what you are as a child of God. The Bible says the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, joint heirs with Christ.

Next time on Running to Win, we'll continue our series from Romans chapter 8 on the blessings we've been given as children of an awesome God. One key blessing is this: you will sit next to the king. This is Dave MacAlister. Running to Win is sponsored by The Moody Church.