So let's go ahead and pray. Holy Father, we thank you for this wonderful day. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the richness of your word, the incredible food that we get, the spiritual food, in order to nourish our souls. Thank you that we get to found our stability on you and not on our bank account or our job or Anything else, we thank you that we can completely rest on you. And we pray that as we study in Ephesians, Lord, that you would conform us to the image of your son. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well, we're in Ephesians, and we are talking about our destiny in Christ and how we're predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. And if you look at the first couple of verses, it says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus. So when we look at our destiny, it's interesting that the first term that is used of us as our identity, it says saints in Ephesus. So you got your heavenly citizenship and your earthly citizenship. You see this in all of the epistles. For instance, one of the most stark comparisons is in Peter where he calls us elect exiles. So, from God's perspective, we're elect, which is exactly what Paul says as well in verse 4, we're chosen from the foundation of the world. So, we have a heavenly citizenship, but we're also exiles on this earth, in Ephesus, or in Chicagoland, or wherever it is, this world is not our home. So, we always have to remember as we go through life, these two dual citizenships. We live here, but the kingdom of God has come. The king reigns in your heart. And the Bible says in Acts chapter 2, Peter says that at the resurrection of Christ, Jesus sat on the throne of David. He's fulfilled all the prophecies. And one day he's coming again, and he will rule and reign from this earth. Isn't that exciting? I've stood on the Mount of Olives where the Lord will return and split the Mount of Olives and he'll walk through the Eastern Gate. And it's exciting to think about that. That's reality. But right now we're in the already not yet. The Lord has come. He has brought his kingdom. He says the kingdom of God has come. And how has it come? Because you look around and you go, well I'm a citizen of earth too and this looks really sad and very disappointing and it seems like each election it gets worse and worse. Our schools are sliding into Sodom and Gomorrah. And what in the world is going on? I'll tell you what's going on. God is in control. You are to be a light here. You are to shine the light of Christ because he's merciful. He's waiting patiently, not wishing any to perish, but all to come to repentance. So we have this dual citizenship, heaven and earth. You know that Ephesus was this mega city, and It is here that Paul spent two years teaching, and there was a riot because of all the change that had occurred. The people who made money from the Temple of Diana making idols were not making as much money anymore, so they were upset. And so Paul had to leave, but he did write this letter to them. And this is one of the prison epistles, so you have to understand he's chained with a Roman soldier when he's writing this. So it says that we're saints. Now what is a saint? Somebody tell me, what is a saint? Anybody? What is a saint? All right, Herb is a saint, amen, amen. Yeah, and Daniel, do you mind helping me here? Thank you. Is that on? Let's turn it on. It's not on yet. Any way to turn that on? Scott, is that on? Nothing? Okay, well just tell me and we'll repeat it. Yeah, so it's the same word as holy, but it's in noun form. You're a holy one. Okay, that's literally what it means, a holy one. And what does holy mean? Set apart for God's purposes. So you are saints in the sense that you are set apart for God's special purposes. Remember I used the illustration of the china that we use, at least we used to. I don't know how many people do it these days. But it used to be that you got grandma's china and it was always on display. It was separate. It was holy. It was special. And God says, you're set apart. You live in this world, but you're set apart from it. You may live in a place where the temple of Diana and you have, you know, basically, you know, child trafficking basically is what was happening in that temple. and you have these awful things and you're standing against it because you're a saint, you're a holy one, you're set apart, you're not part of this world. This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through, right? My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. So then we talked last week about this eternal blessing that we have, that all blessings, all spiritual blessings are ours in Jesus. because we are set apart to God, and that's verse three. And it says it's in heavenly places. So we are to live out of that realm, those heavenly places. Colossians says to set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. And it's very tempting to set our affections on things on the earth, even without being a scandalous sinner. You can just be a normal, everyday Christian, and your heart, when you need comfort, you can find comfortable things, especially in this culture, that are not necessarily sinful, but could draw your heart away from God. And so, what I mean is this world is, this culture that we live in is very distracting. And so be careful about that. Be careful about that. You have all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. And again, we talked about the benefactor language that is in all the epistles. Everywhere you would go in the New Testament, you would find decrees from governors and mayors and even Caesar himself. And it would say, Blessed be whatever the guy's name is, Marcus. because, you know, I've shown favor on him, this undeserving, maybe he's a slave or something, but he's done well, and I'm giving to him this freely, and he will have the front seat in the Greek games this year, you know? And it's declared, and then you go over to, it's very common, everywhere you go, there's all these dedications to these very people, This is benefactor language. It means you get unlimited access. It means you get to go to this guy's unlimited bank account. And that's the benefactor language that the apostles often use in the Hellenistic context. Hellenistic means they're Greek cultured. Greek and Roman culture. But it's especially referring to the Greeks. Because they brought in a kind of ancient Renaissance. of learning. And so these are things that they refer to. This is the benefactor language that is constantly used. And what is the application there? We have unlimited resources when it comes to our Father in heaven. We have all spiritual blessings. There's nothing you are being withheld. Peter says in 2 Peter that we have everything that we need in Christ for life and godliness. Everything. Now, we're blessed by God and we're called to bless God. He says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us all spiritual blessings. So how can we be blessing God? And I really think that we shouldn't just be blessing God when things go well. The world does that. It's very important that we bless God for every little thing in life, good and bad, even the difficult things we can bless God for. Why? If our theology is right, all things work together for the good of those who are called according to His purpose, right? So those who love God. Also says in Ecclesiastes 3, for every season, there's a time for everything under the sun. And he says, God has made all things, what? Beautiful, beautiful in his time. And it says he's made it, he's outside of time. But look at verses 4 and following. 4 through 14 really starts to talk about our sanctification. Sanctification is a theological term that really goes along with saint. If we are saints of Christ, if we've been set apart from the foundation of the world, then we are going to be made holy. And that's what it says here in verse 4. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be what? holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for the adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will." What's the thing about sonship and adoption? Well, when we're born again, we're born into, even though we're adopted and we're given all the rights and privileges because we were once slaves and now we're sons, That's the imagery of the ancient world, because if you didn't have a son, you'd find the best slave that you could. And slavery is not like the African slave trade, where there was a purposefulness of keeping these people who were made in the image of God, but leaving them uneducated. That was not a thing in the ancient world. Half of the Roman population were slaves. Which meant they didn't have the rights and privileges of Roman citizenship, and they were the property of someone else permanently. But if you wanted to, you could adopt, if you were a Roman citizen, you could adopt one of your servants as a son or daughter, and give them Roman citizenship, and give them the rights and privileges. Now, in God's kingdom, we're both adopted, but we're also born into his kingdom. So what's the thing about sons and their fathers or daughters and their fathers and mothers? There's a resemblance, right? And when we're adopted into the kingdom of God, we start to resemble the Father. When Jesus came into the world, Yes, we're made in the image of God, but when Jesus came into the world, he reflected the Father. He is the exact representation, the exact image of the Father. And so that's the work that we lost in Adam. The image of God was not erased, but it was defaced. It was damaged. It was vandalized. Now, people are made in the image of God. They're valuable. They're not animals. But the more and more they get away from God and into sin, the more animalistic you'll notice that they become. They lose the image of God more and more, and they become like brute beasts, as it says in Romans. Because they worship the creation more than the creator. All right, so we're chosen in Christ. We're saints, right? It's our identity. We're chosen. What does that even mean? We're chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Anybody got an idea? What in the world does that mean? Now we're wading into the theological depths of election and predestination. So interesting. So many debates. So many books. Hey, is God sovereign? Absolutely. Is He sovereign in our salvation? Is He outside of time? Is it as if it's already happened? Yes, for God it has already happened. That's why He made all things beautiful in His time past tense, because He's outside of time. It's already done. You're already glorified in His eyes. Do we have a microphone? All right, we have one now. Is it working is the question. Yes. Does it work? Yes. So what is chosen? What is this election? When you choose something, you see something in it that is not just beautiful, but malleable, teachable, trainable. They may appear like us, like believing. So yeah, so that's how we would choose, but that's actually not how God chooses, right? Because God doesn't see anything beautiful in us. When he looks down the corridors of time, he doesn't go, man, that Nathan Polderman, what a great guy he is, even though he is a great guy. He is a great guy, I'm not saying he's not. But there's enough sin in his best prayers to send him to hell, right? I'm just saying, I'm just saying, there's enough prayers in my best..." That was a quote from John Bunyan, just so you know. I think his prayers are great. But the thing is, is there's enough pride in any of us, in any of our best actions, to send us to hell forever. God did not look down the corridors of time and say, wow, I'm so impressed. Yeah, go ahead. There's another question over here. I got to readjust, because you all latecomers are not part of the remnant. The remnant was over here, and you guys are in the court of the Gentiles, so I'm just saying. So the question is, how does God choose? Yeah, that's right. Well, it's more like He decreed that it would happen. Yes. It's not like that there was something, and then for God to choose, like there was options. But he created the world where sin would come, and that there would be a people that he would set apart for him. So he permitted them, sin to enter, where he did not create a sin, but the people that he chose is the people that he decreed that you would be saved, and then he provided the means for them for what they would be saved, and then he saved them. But now we experience that in our lifetime, but in actuality, God decreed that that would happen before we experienced it. Very good, very good answer. And we get really uncomfortable with some of that language, and that's why there's such a debate, because the idea that God is in absolute control is offensive to most people. And they say, well, aren't we all just innocent, and God just gives everybody a chance? Well, if God left it up to us, we would all be dead in our sins forever. So I'm so thankful that God didn't leave it up to us. He decreed our salvation. Now, again, that is offensive because it offends the pride of man. It makes you look as helpless and as dead as you really are without Christ. And that's why the allusions to regeneration, the metaphors, are all where you are passive. So it's a new creation. Can I create myself? No. Birthing. Can I birth myself into the world? No, I can't. These are the harvests. God gives the increase. Can a seed make itself into a tree or whatever? No, these are all where the object is passive. So God has to give the increase. God has to make a new creation. God has to make you born again. Or resurrection. I'm dead. Can a dead person make themselves alive? No. When we were dead in our sins, we were dead in our trespasses and sins, but God, who is rich in mercy, what did he do? He made us alive in Christ. So this is the doctrine of election. It's very offensive to the pride of humanity because it puts us in our place. But it's not meant to confuse you. God didn't put it in the Bible to make us debate each other. He put it in the Bible so that we would bow down in radical humility and say, Lord, this is a wondrous mystery, and you are God, and I tremble before you, and I'm not God. So it's not based on anything that we've ever done. You know, God didn't go, well, Joaquin, man, he's a swell guy. No, we all deserve hell. That's why the ground is level at the cross. We all have to come in the same way and nobody gets grandfathered in. You all have to come individually before God. He humbles you. And it is a mystery because he doesn't force you to come in. He makes himself irresistible in your sight. And that's a gift from God. We call that repentant faith. And that has to be granted. It has been granted unto you to believe, Philippians 1.29. It's been granted. And that same benefactor language that we're talking about is in Peter. He says you've received the gift of faith in 1 Peter 1.1. It's a gift. So add to your faith that was a gift. Go back to that bank account of God's and add virtue. Add this sense of desire to please God. That's virtue. Moral. Excellent. I want to reflect the glories of Jesus. So what are we predestined to? We are predestined to salvation, but salvation is past, present, and future. So we are saved. We are justified. We are being saved. We are being sanctified. And we will one day be saved. We will be glorified, forever separated from our sin nature. We will no longer have a sin nature. We will no longer have the temptation towards self-rule and selfishness. We will only be, we will be lost in God. We will be truly self forgetful. We won't be so concerned about ourselves. We'll be amazed in the presence of God forever. That's glorification. So, justification, sanctification, glorification, a full salvation. Okay? And that's what we're called to. We're called to holiness. And when he talks about we're called, we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestinated us to the adoption of sons. So what holiness entails is getting your birthright. Never separate the New Testament from the Old Testament. It is really one testament. One is a picture of the reality. One's the picture, the other's the reality, but they're both the same story, the same message, right? So when it talks about adoption and all of these rights and privileges, think about the Old Testament. You get all these rights and privileges, like a firstborn son, right? So there was a big debate between Esau and Jacob. And even though Jacob was younger, he got the birthright. Am I right or wrong? He got the birthright. Why? Because Esau was so hungry, he sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup. And lentil soup is so good, I'm telling you. Don't diss Esau, because lentil soup, when you're hungry, it's the best thing in the world. I ate lentil soup a lot when I was in Spain. That's like one of their favorite dishes, lentil soup. Joachim, am I right? Do you like lentil soup? All right, thank you, thank you. All right, I got some confirmation here. But here's the thing, you need to think about holiness as a birthright. That's what I'm saying. Adoption means this belongs to you. Like, if you go to, say, Barron Trump, right? You know Barron. We all know Barron, right? Barron Trump, like, if you see him begging for food on the side of the road, you'll never see that, right? Because he knows his birthright. His name is on the side of a lot of buildings. Your birthright, that's how you need to think, and we're not going to think in the prosperity realm because there's a false gospel that says, hey, God wants his kids to have a Lamborghini. Maybe he does. Lord, maybe no. There's no Lamborghinis here. It's all about the spiritual blessings that were promised in verse 3. So our birthright is holiness and blamelessness. So holiness has to do with internal disposition, and blamelessness has to do with external living. So I'm cleansed, I'm sanctified, I'm washed by the blood of the Lamb, I keep a clean conscience, and therefore I live blamelessly in the world, right? And so that's your birthright. Again, it's not white knuckling it, okay? It's not, ooh, I'm really gonna do better today. Maybe I have this problem and I get angry, and I'm really, really gonna try hard not to get angry, right? How's that working for you? It doesn't work. The way you get rid of your anger is not by working on your anger. That'll probably just make you more angry. If you want anger management, You need to be touched with the presence of God who will bring vengeance. And you can't be a little god, a little demigod in your own little world, honking your horn because the guy in front of you won't go and the light is green. Just a little illustration. I did do that this morning, but he was actually, must have been asleep. I just, boop. You know, it wasn't an angry, it wasn't an angry one. It was just, hey, I think you're sleeping or looking at your phone. Anyway, If you want to cure lust, if you want to cure pride, if you want to cure anxiety, and you're going to be tempted in all of these realms every day. So it doesn't mean when you're holy you never are tempted again. Was Jesus perfect? Sinless? Or was he tempted in every way like we are? Every day there was the Lord of anger and the Lord of anxiety going, worship me! And just give it to him, man! Just tell him what you think! That's the Lord of anger, the Lord of hatred and murder. Beelzebub, you don't want to worship him. Don't give in to his slavery. Worship and bow down before the Lord. That's where holiness and blamelessness comes from. You've got to have this intimate, personal, sweet walk with God. You've got to know the presence of God. That's your birthright. We were cast out of Eden with cherubim, with flaming swords, never to go and eat again of the tree of life. Now through Christ we are eating of the tree of life. We have access to the presence of God. That's Ephesians chapter 2. We can go into the holy of holies. We're no longer in the court of the Gentiles. Also Ephesians chapter 2. We who were once strangers are brought near by the blood of Jesus. All of that is where your holiness comes from. You are holy, you are perfected in Christ before the throne of God positionally, but in life you're called to reflect that holiness and that blamelessness practically. Any questions so far? So many verses about the promises of God doing his work. I am sure of this, Paul says, Philippians 1.6, he who began a good work shall complete it. He's able to complete it. And we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for unto good works, so on and so forth. We talked about adoption, and we're predestined for adoption, which includes the redemption of our bodies, Romans 8. So God didn't just change your heart. You actually get the keys to everything. You get a new body, and you get a new creation. One day, Christ will descend from heaven. There'll be a trumpet sound, and the dead in Christ will rise, and then we who are alive will meet him together in the air, and then he will come to earth. Now, I know that there's differences in eschatology in our church. Some people believe there's a seven-year tribulation that we escape. Some believe we go through it. I believe we go through it. And at the end, the Lord comes, and that's it. And so here's the thing, he's coming to earth and our adoption is when he comes, we get a new body. We get keys to the new creation. I don't know what that's gonna be like. There's a wonderful book on heaven by Randy Alcorn, have you heard of it? Called Heaven, aptly entitled. But it talks about all the things in scripture And what you find is that the new creation is when heaven and earth become one. It's not like, okay, I'm on earth, now I'm going to fly up to the clouds and see God and then I'm going to come back down. Heaven is very earthy in the eternal state. Because the New Jerusalem, what it descends from heaven like a bride and it comes down to earth and heaven and earth become one. All right? And so I don't know what it's going to be like. I like singing. I love singing. It's one of my favorite things to do and I can sing in a baritone range, which means sometimes I can sing bass, sometimes I can sing tenor. But can you imagine in the new creation what that's going to be like? There's probably going to be like many more octaves than what we have, and more colors. And you know, my wife will say things to me, and sometimes, I know this is a shock, I don't hear what she's saying. But I won't have that problem in heaven. I'll be able to hear things. I'll be able to hear music that I've never heard before. And can you imagine what the food will be like? I have no idea. We won't need to eat, but we'll be able to eat because there's the marriage supper of the Lamb. What I'm saying is, this is your birthright. Don't live for the things that are on this world. Don't even live for the streets of gold and the gates of pearl in the new creation. Live for Jesus. That's what makes everything better. Taste and see that the Lord is good. So that's what brings about our holiness. Now what's the purpose of it? He says in the latter part of verse five, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he blessed us in the beloved one. Jesus is the beloved one. So here's the thing. Your identity is hooked to a purpose. Who you are in Christ. is all about your purpose. And what is the purpose? It's to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen? Right? So what is your purpose? Sometimes people have to reinvent themselves all the time because they need a new purpose. They're tired of living for this or they're tired of living for that. And that's what slavery is like. You know, you might like what you're doing for a little while, you get tired of it, you go to do something new, and it never satisfies you fully. And you were doing this, but now you're doing this because you're not satisfied. You need more. But with this purpose, you're fully satisfied. You're fully loved. You are fully known by God. Isn't that amazing? And so now you live to reflect his glory, which is the original purpose of the creation in Genesis, right? So we were made male and female, only two genders, right? Male and female in his image, right? We are to reflect God's image, his person, his heart, his character. His intellect, His curiosity, all of these things, these wondrous things were to have dominion over the world, just like God has had dominion over all creation. We're to take what God has created and create things, right? And so this is our purpose. It's to live for the glory of Christ. What are some things that we tend to get distracted with? Who doesn't get distracted with their job? Or who doesn't get distracted with even our wonderful children? Sometimes we can worry so much. and forget that we have a God who loves us. You know, there's all kinds of things that distract us. There's always too much month left at the end of the paycheck, right? Always too much month left at the end of the paycheck. So we can get distracted, but we need to be thinking about this is God's purpose. Everything that occurs in life is like It's like a chisel or like a polish rag. God is polishing his monuments. He's creating us into the image of Jesus. So we're his workmanship. So all things that we're going through are meant, they're gift-wrapped as we talked about last week in James. Those trials, those tribulations, those things that make you scratch your head, they're conforming your character to Jesus Christ. God never means any harm to you, ever. You are His prized possession. You are the jewel in His crown, as it says in the Old Testament. He has written your name on the palms of His hands. If He cares for the sparrow and for the flower, how much more does He care for you, right? So, trials and tribulations have nothing, zero, to do with Condemnation, punishment, that's all for Christ. Christ took all of that upon himself. There is no condemnation for you. Only that you should live to the glory of his grace. Hey, did Jesus suffer? And if Jesus suffered, you're gonna suffer. So even in the suffering, you need to glorify God. And on the good times, don't take it all in for yourself. Give God the glory for everything. Soli Deo Gloria, they used to say when most of the world spoke Latin. To God alone be the glory. Now look at verses seven through 10. And this gets into our liberty in Christ. Have you heard of The The idea that we have liberty in Christ, and sometimes people take that and they go, you know what, I can smoke a cigarette and it's not sin, or I can drink and it's not sin. That's not what liberty is in the Bible. People use it that way, and of course we're not to judge each other or condemn each other. If you are doing something that another believer, maybe it hurts their conscience, but it's not necessarily a sin, But the true teaching of liberty in the Bible is that you have the liberty not to sin. You are set free from the slave market of sin. So verses 7 through 10 here, he says this. Somebody read verses 7 through 10 in Ephesians. Just a second, let me get the microphone here. Is it on? In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him things in heaven and things on earth Okay So you see you have to go again back to the ancient world to the ancient context of slavery, right? When he talks about redemption He's talking about being purchased from a slave market. So if I wanted freedom, someone would have to purchase me and give me, you know, adopt me into their family. So he's going back to this theme, you're predestined to the adoption of sons. And so the payment to get you released from slavery to sin, and this is a huge theme in the entire New Testament, what is the payment? The blood of Jesus, which he's gonna refer to over and over and over again. The blood of Jesus Christ, redemption through his blood. My rags of sin for his robe of righteousness. And that is redemption. And that's what, the whole point of redemption is to set you free from slavery to sin, okay? And sin is very harassing because sin is motivated by the world, the flesh, and the devil. And all of those harass us. So what are you gonna do with that? When your old master comes and says, come back, live in this coffin that you were so comfortable in for so long. I want you to come back and sleep in this coffin. No. So, we're going to talk about the reality of your identity in Christ. You're an adopted child of God and you are set free from the slave market of sin, from the masters of sin, the slave masters of these common things. What is it that you want? You're really set free from the worship of self. Because why do you get angry? Why do you get anxious? Why do you despair? Why do you get hopeless? Why do you get depressed? Why are you so proud? It's because you want what you want. And if you wanted God, you would not be depressed. But if you want something other than God, you're worshiping idols, and you are going to be miserable, because all of those are, you know, subcategories of misery. Oh, I'm so angry, I could just spit, right? Is that a fruit of the Spirit? I don't think so. I'm so depressed, I just can't, I feel like the weight of the world is on me, I don't even want to get out of bed today, and I'm just going to stay here, and I'm just going to pretend none of this exists. Where's that? How is that blameless and holy? That's living for yourself, right? And I'm not saying that there aren't organic ways that our body plays tricks on us all the time. So you have to reckon that old life as dead. We're crucified with Christ. You don't have to obey the slave master of your old habits because you've been purchased. And what does he say here? We have the forgiveness of our trespasses. So you should not be living in guilt as a Christian. And I know so many Christians that have been washed from all their sins, and yet they still keep opening up the suitcases from the past. Well, I failed here, and I did this, and what? Oh man, I'm just gonna keep punishing myself. You cannot add to the atonement of Jesus Christ. So stop opening up the baggage from the past. The penalty for sin has been erased. You are under zero condemnation. You have to keep reminding yourself of this. Any questions about this? Because this might even be something you're curious about. All right. Just raise your hand if you have any questions. But the penalty for sin has been placed on Jesus. And then look at this. He says, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished on us, not only are you no longer swimming about in the cesspool of guilt and sin, now you're swimming in the lavish pool, the ocean of God's grace. He's lavished it upon you. So the penalty for sin has been removed, and the poverty of sin has been removed. Yeah, go ahead. There's a couple of questions here. Oh, yeah, good. Yeah. Yeah, so I know that that's true, but what if, you know, with your sin, you see the effects of it? you know, there are effects of it that have happened in your life and other people's lives around you, and those things have not been, like, reconciled yet. So how do you, you know, because how do you deal with that as far as, you know? Very good question. Just having, you feel like you still have the guilt. The guilt still comes up because Yeah, let me answer that with a story. Because one of my good friends, he's a pastor, he used to be a chaplain for Trinity International University. But he did a lot of bad things. Robbed people in his former life. But his first day of prison was the best day of his life. Because instead of going to where they told him to go to, he snuck into the chapel and he heard the gospel. And he was born again. Nathaniel Johnson. Nathaniel Hawthorne Johnson, right? So his family had named him after famous people, but all things All things work together for good. What was the most heinous sin ever committed? The crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Did God make that into something beautiful? Yes. You need this strong in your theology. If you don't have this in your theology, you are going to be a ship without a rudder. God makes all things beautiful. Even our horrible choices. Right? Peter denied Christ three times. Was that horrible? It was pretty horrible. It was pretty low of Peter. But does that give you hope that God could take somebody like that? Exactly. See, you have to look at your old baggage as part of God's backdrop for the glory of his grace. Can God do amazing things through such sinners as ourselves? Yes. And then he forgives that, and you need to rest and walk in that forgiveness. Every day there are consequences, but even those consequences will lead to God's everlasting praise. So all punishment, all condemnation has been laid on Christ. The only thing we have, even the consequences of our sin, are going to be a backdrop because God has changed us. It's an amazing radical change. Go ahead, Leanne. I just, um, I think it's interesting though that people experience that liberty or that freedom from the power of sin in very different ways. And so like, you know, like there's some people who will say, you know, I came to Christ and I no longer felt any temptation for alcohol. Like, I was just freed of it, you know, and they're like, you know, amazing. And then there are other people who come to the Lord out of addictions or whatever and they're like, wow, it's still a struggle. You know, like, like this, You know, like, I still have to work to not say yes to that thing. You know what I mean? And so I think it's just interesting, like, why is it that some people do experience that liberty in just an incredible way and other people are really still struggling? It's not the same for everybody. No, that's really a merciful thing to remember, is that we cannot judge other people according to our own experience. So maybe you were delivered out of, you know, whatever it was, and it was instantaneous. Praise God. But don't judge others who take a longer time to rehabituate their character to Jesus Christ, because that's a process. You know, look at Peter, like Peter, he didn't rehabituate greatly, you know, like he still tried to divide the church at, you know, in Antioch. So his sin, self-righteousness, I'm a Jew, you know, it took him a while to get out of that. And at the end, he's still kind of telling his story of how weak he is in 2 Peter 1, where he's like, I'm about to die, but I'm telling you, if you don't keep growing in this stuff, you can become so nearsighted like me, like I was, and like I have been, like I have struggled with, that you're blind. Now that's the chief of the apostles saying that. and warning us like it's so easy. So don't judge others. Be very merciful to them. Because it is a journey. It's a process. It's a process of sanctification. Having said that, there is a caveat. If I say that I'm a believer, but I really love, like this is true when it comes to, like say, they call it same-sex attraction. Fill in the blank, it could be lying, it could be whatever, you name it. But when you have a new relationship with God, you have a new relationship with sin. So if you love God, you cannot love sin. That's double-minded, that's duplicitous. Really, you cannot have two masters. And some people say they love Jesus, but they just really struggle where this is the main thing in their life. Well, if that's the main thing in your life, if you're a believer, you need to get proper discipleship and really get some support in your life, you know. But there are some who are not believers who are actually promoting a lifestyle of sin under the cover of mercy, if that makes sense. So we have to be very careful. We do not want to judge true believers. But we also don't want to give false assurance to the wolves in sheep's clothing. Right? And they are out there. Trust me, they are out there. And there are churches that say, you know what? I know that you're a man and you're married to a man, but you're going to become a member of our church because God's doing a work in you. And I'm like, no, what about repent and believe? The kingdom of heaven has arrived. You know, you have to repent. You have to turn from the old lifestyle and embrace the joy of Christ. Now, does that mean that the habituation of the old life is fully removed when you're saved? No. And that's what the struggle is. It's the habituation. But it's not the heart. Because the old life has been slain. And when you came to Christ, the Bible says, When you were baptized and you confessed your sins and you said, God, I believe in Jesus Christ, you were buried with him and your old life was buried with him and you died with Christ. And when you were raised out of that water, you were raised with Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection. That's Romans 6. And he basically Answers the the the Controversy shall we continue in sin so grace may abound because God is so forgiving it isn't his job to forgive Well, you cannot you can no longer sin because you have a new nature You serve a new master You live in a new realm. You're walking in newness of life in the epic of the new creation and There is no way, there is no kind of way that you can continue in sin. There's just no way. Because you've been united to Christ, you died when he died, you were raised when he raised, and you will ascend with him when he comes again with a new body. That's the gospel. And so, that's a good question, and it's hard to answer carefully. And sometimes we answer it sloppily. But the truth is, if somebody's really, really struggling, you need to come alongside of them and help them to walk in the newness of life. And if they can't walk in newness of life with the means of grace, with fellowship, with prayer, with the Bible, then you need to ask them, have you truly submitted to the Lordship of Jesus? Have you been born again? And so, you know, we're not to continue in sin. So we're free from the power of sin as well. It says that he's given us, he's lavished us, right? We don't have the poverty of sin. He's lavished us with the riches of his grace. But he has in all wisdom and insight, he's made known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ Jesus. So in this sense, we are no longer under the realm of sin, the reign of sin. Now we're under the reign of Jesus Christ. And Paul goes into much more detail in Romans 6 about how we're to give our bodies to God as a servant to righteousness and not be enslaved to sin, right? So we're now in the realm of Christ's wisdom and insight. We're in a whole new realm. We're lavished with His grace. We're no longer in the realm of the slave master of sin. We're now in this whole new realm where there's a new power. So the penalty, the poverty, and the power of sin have been removed from the Christian. Now are we harassed? Yes. Are we attacked on every side? Yes. Put on the whole armor of God, right? You need to understand, though, that you need to walk in the realm of the Spirit. That's what he's talking about. Under Christ's purpose, in his wisdom, in his insight, turn off what my father called the boob tube, or this television, or the media. You know, it's going to make you dumb. Listen to the Bible. Read the Bible. Listen to good, godly books. Be constantly growing and changing in the atmosphere of insight and wisdom in Christ. One day we'll be free from the presence of sin, right? Not now, but one day. It says, it's as a plan, verse 10, for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. Remember I said, when Christ comes, heaven and earth will become one. We'll be united. Things in heaven and things on earth will become one. We sing joy to the world at Christmas. But it's really not a Christmas song. It's not a first Advent song. It's a second Advent song. He rules the world. When does that happen? At the virgin birth? No. I mean, he is ruling the world in a sense. But when does Christ become the king of this earth and crowned by its citizens? It's when he comes again at the second coming, right? So he rules the world with truth and grace. And so this is a good place to end, but it's very necessary and needful for us to be meditating, especially in the realm of politics. There's an idiot of the day, there's a scandal of the day. You know what I mean? Like you could just spend all your time, and that's the whole purpose of kind of the false prophet of this world, the media. It's like to keep you engaged in stupid, empty things. And so it's important for you to be engaged in the real politics. When heaven and earth become one, and Christ is King of kings, so when you think about your purpose, when you think about your identity, you are a citizen of heaven, you're a saint, but you live in Ephesus, you live in Chicagoland. And you're awaiting that time. You've been freed from the slave market of sin. You've been adopted into the family of God. You're awaiting the time when Christ will be crowned as King of Kings and Lord of Lords by everyone on the planet. And the only people that'll be left are those who know Christ and who have known Him. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for the Sunday school hour. Thank you for the privilege of teaching these incredible doctrines. Help us, Lord, as we get further into your word, to read it, to study it, to love it, to remember it, to not take it for granted. There are so many people who do not even have a Bible. And some people who have a Bible who don't have elders and pastors. And so help us, Lord, to realize the riches that we have, and help us to enjoy you as a result, in Jesus' name, amen.