Deceit

WE SHOULD KNOW

WICKEDNESS FROM RIGHTEOUSNESS

A. Opening illustration: During the mighty movements of the Holy Spirit in the Moody-Sankey meetings in Dublin, the worldly father of C.T. Studd was gloriously saved. He invited some of his worldly companions to come to his home so that he could tell them the wonderful news. When one wealthy English sportsman arrived at the railway station he was met by the coachman. He could not wait till he got to the house to know what had happened to his old friend, so he began to question the coachman. ’I hear that something remarkable has happened to your master. I hear he’s got religion. Please tell me about it. In what way is Mr. Studd changed?’ ’Oh,’ said the Irish coachman, ’It’s a revolution. In one sense he is still the same man--he’s in the same body. But the best way I can explain him is he’s a new man in the old skin.’ The new creature receives a new set of appetites and a new set of attitudes. The babe in Christ has now a holy nature with a propensity toward holiness. The things he used to hate, now he loves and the things he used to love; now he hates."

1 Corinthians 2. The Shame of the Righteous Taking Disputes before the Unrighteous (6:1–11)

Paul issues a final reason for his rebuke accompanied by a strong warning (6:9–11). The “unjust” will not inherit the kingdom of God. On what basis should a believer take a matter before someone who has no inheritance in the kingdom of God? Furthermore, the Corinthian believers are no longer “unjust” because they have been “washed, sanctified, and justified.” Again, the indicative of what they “are” lays the foundation of how they must behave.

1 Corinthians 2. The Shame of the Righteous Taking Disputes before the Unrighteous (6:1–11)

Instead of “becoming what they are” the Corinthians are “behaving like they were” (6:11). Paul’s warning is not hypothetical but real. Those who persist in such behavior exclude themselves from the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God consists of righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17). Believers have been rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God’s Son (Col 1:13). The actions of believers should be worthy of those who belong to the kingdom (1 Thess 2:12).

1 THESS 2:12 “exhorting and consoling you and insisting that you live in a manner worthy of God, who calls you to his own kingdom and glory.”

COL 1:13 “who has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves,”

1 PET 3:21 “And also, corresponding to this, baptism now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,”

to be sanctified v. — to be or become as dedicated to God; either in distinction, in devotion, or in moral purity. Gen 2:3And God blessed the seventh day, and he sanctified it, because on it he rested from all his work of creating that there was to do.

John 17:17Sanctify them in the truth—your word is truth.John 17:19And for them I sanctify myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in the truth.

Prov 17:15He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, the two of them are both abominations of Yahweh.

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Medieval Church Impossible to Go to Paradise by One’s Own Virtue

Know, O man, that if you will you can go to Paradise, for there has your Savior Christ gone; but know this also, that not by your own nature, not by means of silver and gold, not by your virtue, will you reach that place.

Girolamo Savonarola