Saints of God
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
I would like to start a new series this week on a book of the Bible that is one of my personal favorites. It is a book through which so many people get saved. We are starting a series on the book of Romans. It is one of the first ones I recommend to a new believer; first the Gospel of John, and then Romans. See, Romans was written to a whole new group of believers. The Greeks and the Jews had a sense of God- the Old Testament and even some of the basics of Messianic prophecies. The Romans however, were an occupying force, their people just learning the customs of the conquered. In many ways, the Romans were like us- they didn’t have a background in Judaism, and so they didn’t really have a sense of who God was, or where they stood with Him.
The book was written to Roman believers in order to set the groundwork of righteous and triumphant living. Who wants to have a triumphant life in here this morning? Well if you raised your hand, then I want to assure you that you’re in the right place. The reason I can say this with absolute certainty, is the way in which the book ends.
Now the God of shalom will soon crush satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Yeshua be with you.
If that is not a promise worth shouting about, I don’t know what is! Paul must have laid down some good stuff, if he ended it this way, would you agree? How many have been battling Satan, and are frustrated because you are not sure how it is going to end? Well I will tell you how it will end, but more than that over the next few weeks, we are going to figure out exactly how we can get that victory today. Ready?
Called
Called
Paul, a slave of Messiah Yeshua, called to be an emissary and set apart for the Good News of God, which He announced beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
Concerning His Son,
He came into being
from the seed of David
according to the flesh.
He was appointed
Ben-Elohim
in power
according to the Ruach of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead.
He is Messiah Yeshua
our Lord.
Through Him we have received grace and the office of emissary, to bring about obedience of faith among all the nations on behalf of His name. And you also are called to Yeshua the Messiah.
To all those in Rome, loved by God, called to be kedoshim:
Grace to you and shalom from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah!
Paul starts out the epistle, or letter, in much the same way he does the others he writes. He starts out by setting down his qualifications. In this particular passage He says it quite simply. “called to be an apostle.” We’ve talked about that term apostle before. Let’s review quickly.
We started by looking at how faith is imparted… by hearing… hearing what? The Word of God… how will they hear? Someone must be…so we know that the Word that builds faith is the Word that comes from a Preacher that has been sent. Once again, look at the word apostle, it means sent “sent”. Crazy huh? Churches have been using this model for centuries, and it is only the modern church that has somehow decided that we’ve been wrong all these years and that everyone is a preacher, and everyone is able to teach the types of sermons that build up faith. While this is true to a degree, we read further that there is a very distinct difference between a believer that teaches or preaches or prophesies and someone who is specifically called into what we called the “five-fold” ministry, and that not everyone is called to be a five-fold minister. We read in Acts that the reason that the church enjoyed the esteem and favor of the people was because of what the apostles did, not because of what the church was doing. In other words, God sent people to direct and to shepherd His people. The church is not a “flat” organization, it has levels of leadership that have nothing to do with how long you’ve been a Christian or how much Bible you know, it has everything to do with the function to which God has called you in the body.
After establishing his office (or function) in the church Paul goes on to talk about the purpose to which God called him. “for obedience to the faith of among all nations.”
He also pointed out that we as Christians have a calling we all share. THIS is the calling I want to talk about today. Paul says that we are the “Called of Jesus Christ” called for what? Read verse 7 with me. What are you called to be?
Saints! That’s right. Let’s talk about it because the term “saint” is frequently misunderstood and misapplied. If we don’t know exactly what Paul is talking about, we will miss the concept he is trying to put forth here, and come away with a very wrong impression of what our function in the body is. A proper motivation paves the way for proper conduct within the body.
What is a Saint?
So the obvious question then is, “What is a saint?”
Well here is the Greek break-down:
ἅγιος
hagios
holy, pure dedicated, consecrated, God’s people.
So, a saint is one of God’s people. Isn’t it good to know that you are holy, pure, dedicated and set-aside even if we are not perfect- notice that word is not there, and where does our purity come from? Right. So if we are God’s people, then we are saints.
If you are a believer in Jesus, you belong exclusively to God. The church is made up of God’s own people- the saints.
This means that a Saint is the person sitting next to you today. Look over at the person on your right and say this: “you are set apart, holy, consecrated for His purposes.”
A "saint" is not some super-spiritual Christian now dead and having lived a long time ago ho is canonized and venerated as an object of worship. Indeed, every Christian is a saint!
Sadly, not all Christians behave like saints. The problem with this is, if we don’t take care of our basic behaviors, we will not have ultimate victory over Satan. We need to live up to who we are called to be as saints.
The Saint’s Life
The Saint’s Life
The saint’s life is beautifully described in Ephesians. And it starts by telling us to live worthy of the calling we have received.
Therefore I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you were called—
It goes on to tell us how:
We are to walk in unity:
We are to walk in unity:
with complete humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Ruach in the bond of shalom.
There is one body and one Ruach,
just as you also were called in one hope
of your calling;
one Lord, one faith, one immersion;
one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and
in all.
Unity means we all have a place, and we should know what that place is. We need to make sure that we are helping each other live this Christian life. If we’re not all doing our part, we are exposing ourselves and each other to the wiles of the enemy. But when we are working as we should, we are nurtured by the supernatural physiology of the body of Christ.
We are to walk in truth
We are to walk in truth
So I tell you this, indeed I insist on it in the Lord—walk no longer as the pagans do, stumbling around in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance in them due to the hardness of their heart. Since they are past feeling, they have turned themselves over to indecency for the practice of every kind of immorality, with greed for more.
However, you did not learn Messiah in this way— if indeed you have heard Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Yeshua. With respect to your former lifestyle, you are to lay aside the old self corrupted by its deceitful desires, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self—created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
So lay aside lying and “each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun go down on your anger, nor give the devil a foothold. The one who steals must steal no longer—instead he must work, doing something useful with his own hands, so he may have something to share with the one who has need. Let no harmful word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for building others up according to the need, so that it gives grace to those who hear it. Do not grieve the Ruach ha-Kodesh of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness and rage and anger and quarreling and slander, along with all malice. Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other just as God in Messiah also forgave you.
We are to speak the truth to each other out of a heart of love. If we are walking in unity, then we have the type of relationship needed to hold each other accountable for our actions. The truth calls a sin a sin. It is not a judgment, it is the truth.
We are to walk in love
We are to walk in love
Therefore be imitators of God, as dearly loved children; and walk in love, just as Messiah also loved us and gave Himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice to God for a fragrant aroma.
We are to walk in light
We are to walk in light
For once you were darkness, but now in union with the Lord you are light. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them— for it is disgraceful even to mention the things that are done by them in secret. Yet everything exposed by the light is being made visible, for everything made visible is light. This is why it says,
“Wake up, O sleeper!
Rise from the dead,
and Messiah will shine on you.”
We are to walk in Wisdom
We are to walk in Wisdom
So pay close attention to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise. Make the most of your time because the days are evil. For this reason do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Saints Avoid
Saints Avoid
Not only are we to walk “in” some things. There are some things that we should avoid:
But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed—don’t even let these be mentioned among you, as is proper for kedoshim. Obscene, coarse, and stupid talk are also out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.
Fornication
Uncleanness
Covetousness
Filthiness
Foolish Talking
Coarse Jesting
Fornication- sexual sin.
Uncleanness- Immorality, filth, sexual impurity.
Covetousness- Greed, exploitation
Filthiness- indecent behavior, that which causes shame, shameful behavior
Foolish Talking- talk which is both foolish and stupid
‘foolish talk, stupid talk.’ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία ἢ εὐτραπελία, ἃ οὐκ ἀνῆκεν ‘nor is it fitting (for you to use) indecent, foolish, or dirty words
Coarse Jesting- involving vulgar expressions and indecent content—‘vulgar speech, indecent talk.’ καὶ αἰσχρότης καὶ μωρολογία ἢ εὐτραπελία, ἃ οὐκ ἀνῆκεν ‘nor is it fitting for you to use shameful, foolish, or vulgar language’2
See, there is no need to get way into any of these things. We are all too familiar with them in today’s society. Bottom line is that we are not to be participants in them. We need to watch our language. Crude speech out of the same mouth that praises God are an abomination! There is no place for that in the life of a saint!
How do we get there?
How do we get there?
It would be cruel of God to tell us what we should and shouldn’t be without telling us how to get there. Thankfully we don’t serve a petty God who leaves us to our own devices to try to figure things out. God is gracious, and so in Colossians we read about how we get to this saintly life.
We must be filled with the knowledge of God’s will
For this reason also, ever since we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We keep asking God that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding—
How do we achieve this? Well the most obvious answer is through a disciplined and careful study of scripture, accompanied by a sincere and fervent prayer life which brings about wisdom. James says:
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all without hesitation and without reproach; and it will be given to him.
So we are to ask for wisdom.
So far we’ve established that we need a disciplined word life and a strong prayer life. By so doing, we can then be the examples of God’s character that HE called us to be.
to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. We pray that you may be strengthened with all the power that comes from His glorious might, for you to have all kinds of patience and steadfastness. With joy we give thanks to the Father, who qualified you to share in the inheritance of the kedoshim in the light. He rescued us from the domain of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom He loves. In Him we have redemption—the release of sins.
The key is right there! We walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him because of what He gave us. He gave us an inheritance, and delivered us from darkness. It is a done deal. If we can focus on this, and keep this before us, it causes a natural inclination from within us to praise Him. Understanding what He has brought us out of causes us to be humbled in His presence and causes deep worship to come from within us.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Romans just got started, but already we have received a tremendous charge- we are called to be saints! That means that we need to have lifestyles that put that fact on display for the whole world to see.
By striving for the unity of the body, truth, the light of God, love, and wisdom we start to become who we were called to be, but that is only possible by avoiding the filth of the world system in which we are forced to live. We can overcome it by developing a disciplined and thoughtful word life, a fervent prayer life, and a deeply passionate lifestyle of praise and worship.
Remember – God has called you His saint. That means something.