This message was given at Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. At the end, we will give information about how to contact us to receive a copy of this or other messages. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. We're going to begin in verse 1, but we're going to focus on verses 6 through 10. So 2 Corinthians. Chapter five, beginning in verse one. And I'm reading out of the ESV. For we know that if the tent, that is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling. If indeed by putting it on, we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan being burdened, not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that that which is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Let's pray. Oh, Lord God, we ask in your grace and your mercy that the weight of your word would lie upon our hearts and would cause us, Lord, both to consider our own ways and to consider the greatness of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, it is for that that we pray that you would, God, be pleased to open up hearts and eyes and minds and our understanding, Lord, to know the love of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Lord, I pray for your blessing. I ask that you would give me grace to speak rightly and speak well. And we pray for ears to hear. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. So I didn't mean to color coordinate with Jason, but it just kind of worked out that way. And I think our sermons kind of dovetail too, so it's probably apropos. So verse six, so we are always, or we are of good courage. And then he says, yes, we are of good courage. I think this is one of the parts in scripture that we, it's probably easy to read and somewhat Passover, but the weight of it, oh, that the Lord would just let the weight of this settle upon us and that we would know and that we would understand and have some real sense of what Paul's talking about here, to be of good courage. Obviously the context has to do with putting off of the fleshly tent or tabernacle and inheriting eternal life and being clothed with life. And so in a sense, it's not the whole thing, but in a sense you could say he's talking about death, but he's really not just talking about not being afraid of dying. There are plenty of people who aren't afraid of dying and really they're just foolish. To not be afraid of death is not the gift that God has given us here. He says that he's of good courage. There's a real positive thing to being courageous. Again, a foolish person could just simply not be afraid. I was a little kid one time, I stuck my finger in a light, you know, A hot, light receptacle, and it blew me back about 10 feet. I wasn't afraid until after the experience, but I had no fear of sticking my finger in it at first. I was just stupid. But courage is something different, isn't it? Courage has a real positive connotation to it. Courage has the idea of actually doing something and doing something worthwhile in the face of danger, in the face of adversity, or maybe in the face of your own fears, but still persevering and still doing and actually doing the good thing. It really has a real positive connotation to it. So Paul says, when he says I'm of good courage, there's this other aspect too, and it's in light of something more than what we would say just death, though certainly if we understand death, we would understand that this entails this. But what Paul is saying is I am of good courage, He's not saying, I'm not afraid to die. I'm of good courage and I'm not afraid to be judged. And that's something far more profound, isn't it? Again, just to simply say, I'm not afraid to die, but to say, I'm not afraid to be judged. And Paul doesn't say this lightly, because again, he says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. And I am of good courage. I am of good courage. The Westminster Confession of Faith says, God has appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ. All persons that have lived upon the earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ to give an account of their deeds and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil. The end of God's appointing this day is for the manifestation of the glory of his mercy in eternal salvation of the elect and of his justice in the damnation of the reprobate who are wicked and disobedient. We will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, which is the judgment seat of God. We see this in Romans 14 and again in Romans 2. Sometimes you hear the judgment seat of Christ is just a judgment of rewards, of the behemothos, but that's not really true. It's a seat of judgment, and we are to be judged by what we do. or have done in the body, whether good or evil. Paul understands that all of life, the entirety of his life is moving towards the day of judgment. for everyone, that your life is moving and it's moving rapidly towards the day of judgment. And Paul understood this. Paul understands this is, like what Jason was saying, there's nothing more important than the saving of my soul. Paul is saying, you know, there is a day coming. And this is what this life is all about. That future day is what this day today is all about. This isn't just a tangential thing. We're not just extrapolating logically to these things. That day is what this very moment here is all about. And Paul lives in light of it. So on the one hand, he certainly doesn't have a cavalier attitude, because he lives as if he understands, I will appear before the Lord to give an account for what I have done in my body, whether good or evil. But he has this confidence. I am of good courage. Yes, of good courage. His confidence is in the gospel, and his confidence in the gospel enables him to live his life in light of that day. but live his life in light of that day like this, therefore I am of good courage. It's a life motivated by hope. Again, in the Bible, words change meaning over time. Hope is one of them that's done that. You know, we can use all the illustrations, you know, you hope it doesn't rain, you hope your team wins, you hope you get ice cream for dinner, you know, whatever. And by that we just simply mean some sense of wishful thinking But hope in the Bible, the way the Bible uses hope, the way hope used to be, isn't a wishful thinking. In particular, in the Bible, it is a rock-solid certainty. It's just simply future. It's something you can absolutely ground your life upon. It's as absolutely sure and absolutely certain as anything. It's just simply future. But therefore, I have hope. What's my hope? It's that I know. That's why Paul can say, I have good courage. Because I know something about that day. And I know something about that day today. There's something about that day that I know about right now. And that enables me to live a certain way, is what Paul's saying. Because of Jesus, I'm not afraid to be judged. And because of Jesus, I live a particular way today in light of that day. So the scripture never says that we're gonna be judged on the basis of our works. What it says is we're gonna be judged according to our works. Basis is the ground which establishes something. It's the sufficient and determining condition. So the basis of our condemnation is sin, Okay, the basis of our justification is Christ, it's his righteousness. But the scriptures talk about being judged according to our works. And Paul, again, understanding this, walks in the fear of the Lord, and he walks courageously. He lives his life not like a foolish man who doesn't think that that day, well, that day is far away, he doesn't live like that. That day for Paul is real soon, and I'm gonna live like it's real soon, but he also lives in this confidence so that he will later on say in verse seven, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. And it's this understanding of the gospel that enables Paul to be of good courage. He is in Christ. The being in Christ is a huge thing in the Bible. It is, by many accounts, by many theologians, it is the great the great emphasis of what it is to be saved is to be in Christ. To understand that you're in Christ is to understand the gospel. Martin Luther said it like this, faith therefore must be purely taught, namely that you are so entirely joined unto Christ that he and you are made as it were one person so that you may boldly say, I am now one with Christ. That is to say, Christ's righteousness, victory, and life are mine. And again, Christ may say that I am that sinner, that is, his sins and his death are mine because he is united and joined unto me and I unto him. To be in Christ is more than a metaphor. It's not simply expressing something in the abstract as much as it's trying to get the point across of what has really happened to the Christian as he has been united to Jesus Christ in a living way. It's not simply that we exercise faith, and this faith somehow now is simply just accounted to me. It's much greater than that, or that Christ, His righteousness is discounted to me. It's much greater than that. It's much deeper than that. You are brought into living union with the one who is risen from the dead. And that is what explains everything. And for Paul, that's what gives him the great courage. If I could say it this way, his confidence isn't in the gospel per se, his confidence is in Christ, who is himself the gospel. And Christ being the gospel is what gives him the courage to live today. So Christ, it's Christ who is the ground of your justification. It's Jesus Christ alone who accounts for your verdict. Do you understand that your faith is simply that which unites you to Jesus? Your faith doesn't save you, Jesus saves you. And your faith unites you to Jesus. so that your confidence is in Christ. What a wonderful thing. Your courage is in Christ. There are many people I'm sure here today who have great faith. And there are some here today whose faith is small. But it is not the measure of your faith that would give any Christian courage. It's the measure of Christ. And this is what Paul's saying. It's because of Christ I have good courage. Because of Jesus, I have good courage. So Paul will say in Romans, for by the works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight. And when he says this, that's an accusation. When he says that accusation, he actually establishes the positive counterpart, which is this, for I am not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed. So then the good things done in the body cannot mean works righteousness in the sense of meriting anything, but it is very clearly the fruit of a life of faith that was marked by the gospel of Christ because it's marked by Christ. because it's marked by Jesus Christ himself. So according to, again, just meaning in agreement or in conformity with, consistent with, and keeping with. So justification, when we talk about our justification in Christ, there's this idea of a singular point in time thing where Christ, you're exercised by God's grace, a dead man is made alive, the Holy Spirit comes upon a dead person, opens up their eyes and the first thing they see is that Jesus Christ is indeed the Lord and they believe and they are justified, right? But there is a future aspect to justification too. So it falls under the big rubric of the already and the not yet. And what happens then and what will happen and what is happening is this. Our good works really do play a part and they supply the evidence that first of all, vindicates God's judgment. The evidence that your good works evidence your union with Jesus Christ. On that day, the fact that by God's grace you persevered, by God's grace you rendered your obedience to God, will vindicate God and it will show this, this person was truly united to Jesus Christ. And at that time, for the believer, God's verdict will be publicly substantiated and established before the whole creation as being just. And it will be for the manifestation of God's glory through Jesus Christ. So again, in that sense, obviously, as all of it is, it is God's grace. The kingdom of heaven is a son's Inheritance, it's not a servant's wage. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. A reward in relation to God is always gift and never merit. So holiness of life is not what gives us access to the heavenly kingdom, but it's that by which those who are chosen of God are led to its disclosure. You live your life this way because, and I get to this, you have to. If the Spirit of God, who's the guarantee, dwells within you, it is inevitable that you will live a certain way. If you're united to the living, resurrected Jesus Christ, you must, you must, and I'm not saying that as a command, I'm just saying as inevitable, there is a certain outcome of this. You are in the vine, and you will bring forth, you will bring forth fruit. So, The gospel then, one of the many things that the gospel does, and this is why I believe Paul's emphasis is through this portion of scripture, is that the gospel regulates the life of the believer here and now. Can you see that? If I have courage about that day, then that certainly does impact how I'm living today. If I have confidence about that day, then everything about that day affects this day, but for the believer, it affects it in such a way that I actually live as if I have confidence towards that day. So, what is Paul saying? Well, I think he's actually saying something far greater than that we live our lives in response of gratitude. Gratitude is appropriate for the believer. Gratitude is, again, one of those things that is inevitable. If you understand that you've been saved and you're a sinner, your heart will well up with gratitude. Gratitude is a perfectly appropriate response in worship and in praise and in adoration, but it's not given to us as a motivation to pursue holiness. If the idea... Gratitude is just a proper response to mercy, and it's a motive for worship, but it doesn't serve as a motive to persevere. If you do that, it just becomes a debtor's ethic. Okay? Oh, somebody did something nice for me, so I'm going to do something nice for them. But the gospel is far greater than that. The gospel actually releases us from all debt. God's not concerned with us paying Him back in any way, shape, or form. What motivates the believer, and it's very clear in the context, is the hope or the absolute certainty of future acquittal. That, for Paul, provides the impetus of how to live. If I know that that day I am going to be acquitted, and in God's economy that means I'm right now not guilty, then Paul says that hope provides the impetus for me to live a holy life. It's that reality, it's that hope that enables the believer to persevere. It's there where the scriptures always point us. because that's where we want to go. And the way that way is the way of holiness, the way of the Lord, the road of the Lord, the way of holiness is that way. And he points us to that future day by always taking us back to the cross to assure us of this future day so that right now I live courageously, is what he's saying. And what's it look like to live courageously? To live obediently to God. to render that type of faith that says, I do trust you, and I will trust you, and in trusting you, I will follow you. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. What? Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. It's the hope of the gospel that Paul wants us to grasp in order to live our life today. The power to live comes from the resurrected Christ, who through his spirit indwells the believer, uniting the believer to Jesus, to his very self. Calvin said it just very succinctly, to be saved means to be included in the person of Christ. Another writer, Marcus Johnson, said salvation is not the reception of this or that benefit. Rather, it is Jesus Christ Himself in the fullness of His person. In other words, to be saved is to be in Christ. You become sanctified, you become holy, you become a person who's living that way because you are united to the One who is Himself holy. Do you realize the reason you're, you know, as a Christian, the reason that you're alive is because you're united to the living Christ, right? You're not just alive on your own. You didn't just exercise faith and now you have some inner vitality on your own. You're alive because Jesus is alive. And because Jesus is alive and you're united to him, you're alive. Well, guess what it means to be holy? is to be united to the Holy One, is to be united to the One who Himself is holy. And so therefore, you become holy. Now certainly there's an aspect of sanctification that we say is definitive. In other words, the moment, the moment you believe, there is this holiness in part. We're called saints. But there's also this big time in between for all of us, whether it's chronologically a long or short time, but our entire lives consist of this. There was a moment when we believed, And God, through his spirit, brings us into living, vital union with Jesus Christ, and then there's a moment when we go home. And all that time in between, God is working in us to be holy. That really is what God's doing in your life. God is making you holy because he is holy. So, Paul says like this later on, he would then go, the love of Christ controls us. You go, Paul, what does your life look like? The love of Christ controls me. Every day, the love of Jesus controls me. And the emphasis on the subjective element there, Christ's love for us. It's because Christ, the love of Christ, is not an abstraction. It is the love of Christ. It's one of the characteristics of God. It's an essential attribute of God. What's God like when God's holy? What's God like when God is love? Not just that God shows forth love, though he does, but that God is love. And Paul says it's the love of Christ that controls me. It's because you have been brought into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ that you partake of the living God. That his love becomes a real power in your life because Christ is a real power in your life. It's the love of God, it's the love of Christ that actually becomes a transforming and actualizing and transforming power in your life. So two things, and the first is this, don't get discouraged because you still see that you need a lot of work. One writer put it like this, we are genuinely new, we really are truly new, but we're not completely new yet. Again, Calvin says, in this way, it pleases the Lord to fully restore whomsoever he adopts into the inheritance of life. And indeed, this restoration does not take place in one moment or one day or one year, but through continual and sometimes even slow advances, God wipes out in his elect the corruption of the flesh. It's a process. but it's a process that you can be courageous about. It's a process that you have good hope in, because Jesus Christ is the ground of your hope. And the second's this, and we've drawn a little bit. One, no one can bring about your own sanctification any more than you can bring about your own justification. your sanctification comes about as a direct result of being joined to Jesus Christ. But you need to understand this, your sanctification is just as real as your justification, and once you are joined to Christ, it is just as inevitable. It is just as inevitable that if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, You are sanctified, and will be sanctified, and are being sanctified, just as certainly as you are justified. Jesus' death and resurrection, they're not mere historical events, but they operate effectively in the believer, in the present, in the right here and now, being united to Jesus Christ, your life, in one sense, is a series of death and resurrection. because you're united to the one who died and rose from the dead. So, what's it look like? One writer said this, he says, this absolute passivity that receives everything from Jesus is at the same time the highest activity, since Christ does not work outside the person, but in the innermost depth of his being. And this is the point that I wanna get, how is it that you're made, holy is because there's really the Holy Spirit is living inside of you. He works in you. He doesn't work outside of you to make you holy. He actually has united you to the living Holy One so that the work that God is doing is a work that is in you. And you can take good courage in this. Understand this, for the believer, God's verdict is already in, not guilty, justified. What a wonderful passage in Romans. There is therefore now no condemnation. It's one of the most profound statements Right now, if you're in Christ, it is as if you had been forwarded to the last day and seen the judgment of God and the gavel come down already. innocent, not guilty, righteous. That's what Paul wants you to see. Today, if you're in Christ, this truth is yours. You live because you're in Christ. Because you're in Christ, your acquittal is absolutely certain. Because that hope is certain, you can live today as if it actually were true. So, because God's rendered his judgment against Jesus at the cross, the believer may with absolute confidence face the entire future. And you can know this for certain, he who began a good work in you will complete it. Because we are united to Jesus, all of the promises are ours. God's love, justification, adoption, eternal life, on and on, these are yours. Therefore, aim for them. Don't be paralyzed by fear that looks within and sees no resources to persevere. Do not be blinded by the things of the world that take you away from that which is important. Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. Let's pray. Lord God, your gospel is big because your son is huge. He's gigantic. Lord, he's big. Lord, open up the eyes of your children to see how great is our God. Lord, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. We hope you've enjoyed this message from Grace Community Church in Minden, Nevada. To receive a copy of this or other messages, call us at area code 775-782-6516 or visit our website gracenevada.com.