I Can't but I Will Week 4

Recap of last week

Joshua 24:19–23 NLT

Then Joshua warned the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy and jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you abandon the Lord and serve other gods, he will turn against you and destroy you, even though he has been so good to you.” But the people answered Joshua, “No, we will serve the Lord!” “You are a witness to your own decision,” Joshua said. “You have chosen to serve the Lord.” “Yes,” they replied, “we are witnesses to what we have said.” “All right then,” Joshua said, “destroy the idols among you, and turn your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”

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Dieting is as simple as discipline

The struggle of weight loss (the simplicity of calorie deficit.)

You simply have to choose...

Making the right choice is a discipline.

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We need a celebration of discipline again

The necessity of self discipline

It’s good to tell yourself no

It’s good to come to church

It’s good to read your bible

It’s good to spend time in prayer...

I believe we need a revival of spiritual disciplines in the body of Christ...

Even though discipline is necessary it does have its limitation.

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Discipline can never be a substitute for deliverance

You will never self-discipline yourself out of something you need to deliverance for.

You can’t counsel out a devil and you can’t cast out the flesh.

We have people on both sides of the aisle who can’t seem to ever walk in sustainable victory because their theological persuasion has them put too much weight in one or the other of these words.

The charismatics are too dependent on deliverance and so they never tell themselves no

The reformed and liturgical crowds are too dependent on discipline and never seek deliverance.

These were not meant to be competitive concepts but rather complementary concepts.

TR: Self discipline is not a bad thing…it just can’t be the only thing.

ONCE I EXPERIENCE DELIVERANCE I AM CALLED TO WALK IN DISCIPLINE.

While self discipline is a necessary attribute to carry as a Christ follower…there are some instances in which our self discipline leaves us lacking and longing.

We aren’t the first…the apostle Paul had the same problem .

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Introduction to Paul

Paul’s resume

Trained by one of the greatest theological minds in the immediate procession of Christ

Expert in Jewish tradition and Jewish Law…knew the Torah frontwards and backwards

Was born Jewish

But carried Roman citizenship

Had a direct vision of Jesus Himself (One of the only ones in his generation.)

Planted 14 churches

Wrote 2/3 of the New Testament

HE WAS AMAZING!

But even Paul had moments in which his self discipline failed him.

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Romans 7:22–24 NKJV

For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

I want to talk quickly about the two laws in this text.

God’s Law

The Other Law (The law of our flesh.)

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We fall in love with God’s Law

One reason that self discipline can become a problem for believers is that when we get saved we fall in love with God’s law. (PSALMS 1)

We fall in love with the law from the place of being in love with God.

But sometimes we project our love for God onto the law and in doing so begin worshipping rules.

We characterize our relationship with God based on how distant we are from sin and not how close we are to God.

DIRECTION MATTERS ILLUSTRATION

It can’t just be about rules

It can’t just be about relationship

it’s about both...

THERE ARE RULES TO MAINTAIN THE RELATIONSHIP…BUT YOU MUST MAINTAIN RELATIONSHIP TO FOLLOW THE RULES.

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The subtle seduction of living by the flesh

When we begin to walk out our relationship with God by simply keeping rules…we give the weakness of our flesh a prime opportunity to manifest itself.

The flesh does not like our commitment to keeping God’s law...

The only way to know the power of His resurrection is to walk in the fellowship of his sufferings

So to walk in right relationship requires a crucifixion of the flesh

But when I live in rules rather than relationship…My flesh gets the opportunity to live.

That’s why Paul says “I love God’s law…but I find another law in my members.”

Law = nomos = “to allot,” and thus has the sense of “what is proper,” “what is assigned to someone.”1 In ancient times it has a comprehensive range of meaning which embraces any kind of existing or accepted norm

So a law is simply an accepted normality.

The law of God is the accepted normality of God

The law of my flesh is the accepted normality of my flesh.

When I fall in love with what is thought to be normal to God…I become frustrated with what I have come to view as accepted or normal in my own life.

When’s the last time you’ve become disgusted with sin in a holy way...

A holy disgust with sin births within us a sense of grief.

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The constitution of morality

God’s normality is what constitutes absolute morality

This is why our propensities and desires don’t get to constitute morality…

when we define our own morality we are submitting ourselves to an inferior version of the law.

I don’t feel like it’s wrong to...

Get drunk

Sleep around

Be attracted to the same sex.

That’s because you are living under the accepted norm of your flesh…the law of your flesh.

If I’m only willing to walk in my version of the law than I must be satisfied to only receive my version of blessing.

WHOEVER DEFINES THE RULES DICTATES THE REWARDS

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My real enemy is the law of the flesh.

Often we say that the enemy is at war with us after we receive our standing of salvation....

But the truth is our most consistent adversary in our christian walk is not the enemy

It is our flesh.

Our flesh battles harder than the enemy because our flesh still has a chance at winning.

My flesh hates my salvation more than the enemy does because my flesh is the one that has to be killed in order for my Spirit to live.

And so the beginning of our faith journey is not the beginning of our battle with the enemy…It is the beginning of our battle with the flesh.

THE ENEMY WAS THE ENEMY EVEN BEFORE YOU WERE SAVED...

THE ENEMIES EXISTENCE IS NOT WHAT SET ME AT ODDS WITH GOD.

It was my adherence to and submission to my flesh that put me in the standing of being an enemy of God.

Romans 8:7–9 NKJV

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

Carnal = Fleshly

When I am submitted to my flesh I am at war with the law of God.

God loves me anyway...

You may be right…but to walk in accordance with your flesh is to put yourself as an enemy of God.

You can’t be faithful to your flesh and faithful to God.

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Surprised it’s still here

The reason this is such a devastating problem for Christ followers is because we have come to believe that when I give my life to Christ and I fall in love with God’s law that i will stay that way forever.

When our flesh shows back up…we feel like it means our initial experience wasn’t legitimate.

But your flesh is one of the most resilient substances on the earth.

No matter how old you are…no matter how long you have been serving Christ…your flesh will find it’s way back into your life if it gets half a chance.

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Paul’s internal struggle

As I told you…the apostle Paul was legitimately one of the most impressive Christians to walk the earth...

But he invites us into his thought process during moments when his flesh does its best to take advantage of him.

Romans 7:14–21 NLT

So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.

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I do what I don’t want to do

Maybe you’ve come to the place that you constantly feel like I can’t help but do what is wrong.

I pray the prayer…but then I find myself losing my temper again

I make the commitment…but then I find myself back on the website.

I commit to the budget…but then I spend money on frivolous things.

I find within myself another law…a completely different set of accepted norms.

Oftentimes when we find ourselves in this spot repeatedly…we assume that we don’t have what it takes to stay commited to holiness.

Our momentary failure devolves into a methodological fall

I messed up once and so my day is ruined.

I messed up yesterday and so my week is ruined

I messed up this week and so the month is ruined.

And before you know it you are deep into your pattern of failure.

the law of your flesh is still very present.

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Breaking the law is inevitable - Break the right law

I want you to understand that you are never going to find a reality wherein you are not breaking a law.

Because you are living in a reality of two opposing laws

The thing you learn as a leader is you are going to make somebody mad...

Every decision is polarizing to some degree

Much of decision making is deciding who you’re going to allow to become mad at you.

Every temptation is a moment laced with a proposal to break the law.

We simply have to choose which law we are going to break.

An extreme understanding is that when we choose which law to break we choose who we will crucify in that moment.

Break the law of your flesh by crucifying your desires

Galatians 5:24 NLT

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

Break the law of God by crucifying the Son of God

Hebrews 6:6 NLT

and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.

I’m not asking you to stop breaking the law…I’m asking you to change which law you break.

We can’t be faithful to God as long as we are led by the feelings of our flesh.

We have to break the law of our flesh.

It’s as simple as saying no when my flesh tries to take over.

Once I experienced the deliverance of crucifying my flesh…the only one who can speak life back into my flesh is me.