Change the Atmosphere (2)

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DT: Be a thermostat, not a thermometer.
INTRO: The Science of Storms

MOVE 1: Walk this Way

(4:31-32) 5:1-2
Before anyone asks waht you believe, they will observe how you behave.
"Out of 100 men, 1 will read the Bible and 99 the Christian." - D.L. Moody

"mimeomai" - IMITATE - "mimic"

To walk in the same tracks - To behave in the same manner as someone else - To act from the same motives and behave the same way.
Romans 4:12 - 2 Corinthians 12:18 - 1 Peter 2:21
Imitation is a major theme in Paul. 1 Corinthians 10:33-11:1.
"even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. 11 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."
(Luke 6:35–36; cf. Matt. 5:44–48). - Jesus, "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful."
1 John 3:16 - "by this we KNOW love"
The means is the model. Sacrifice, servanthood, selflessness. This is the Jesus way.
"The litmus test for the Christian is to walk into any room, not asking 'what can I get,' but 'what can I give?"
"TO ACT FROM THE SAME MOTIVES."
You cannot love or live like Jesus unless you are looking at Him.
5:2 - "peripateo" = walk
To live or behave in a customary way, with possible focus upon continuity of action.
How does Jesus walk?
John 8
Jesus always lives with conviction AND compassion. Never with carelessness and never compromise.

MOVE 2: Wrath is Real

5:3 - "onomazo" = name, call
When you're name is brought up, what else comes up?
NO MENTION
What are the vile vices that Paul forbids?
Sexual Immorality = 'porneia' - literally uniting the sacred with sullied.
You are set apart by God. Any sexual expression outside of God's good design is a willful rebellion against God. Sexual immorality is so expressly forbidden in scripture because of God's great love for you.
You bear the image of God. So do all others. When you profane the image of God in you and in others, it has a profound effect on you.
The things you do, do something to you.
God does not hate you because you sin. He hates sin because of what it does to you. Therefore, he's extremely serious about sin, and we should be too.
God's wrath is real. He despises sin. Sin doesn't keep us from His love, but it corrupts us and keeps us from loving others completely. Sin demands that you love yourself.
When we are entangled in sin, the lie we live into is to point fingers at others to make sure everyone knows how vile and wicked they are so that we don't have to deal with our own shortcomings.
We cannot love like Jesus when we love our sin.
It is impossible to imitate Christ when you are completely enamored with yourself. Sin demands we remain enamored with ourselves.
The language surrounding sin, especially sexual sin, is not "action," but "union."
1 Corinthians 6:15-20 = 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17 But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
When you sin sexually, you are literally becoming the sin you commit. Sin begs you to choose it's side. Once you aligned with it, you have allegiance to it. The longer you walk and live in it, the more foreign walking in light and purity become. Even though you feel in you soul the sickness of sin, you talk yourself into justifying your depravity.
The main issue with "porneia" is that it is using someone else for personal pleasure. You objectify another image bearer. You cannot make a case otherwise outside of God's good design. Because God's good design begins with covenant relationship. There is no danger for another within that covenant. Only unconditional love, permanent trust, and forever commitment. Porniea is stripping the promise from the practice for means of pleasure.
Impurity = "akatharsia" - impurity, filthiness.
If immorality/porneia refers to the action, impurity/akatharsia is the motivation or the mind behind the action.
This is how you think. It is the perversion of the mind to think outside God's good design.
One man. One woman. For one lifetime. - Anything else is explicitly condemned in the scriptures.
Akatharsia is thinking:
Man & man.
Woman & woman.
Man & multiple women.
Woman & multiple men.
Multiple women & multiple men.
Man can become a woman.
Woman can become a man.
Adults & children.
People and animals.
Synthetic, Digital, or simulated things.
Some of this feels gross to talk about. But we live in a cultural moment in which you are expected to affirm anyone's preference for pleasure. Please hear me, this is not loving.
Love means "to will the good of another."
It is not good for people to live outside God's design.
Greed/Idolatry = 'pleonketes'
Comes from the root 'pleroo' - meaning to complete or fulfill.
Greed deceives us by telling us we are not complete without something, then it demands from us that we take it from another.
"Let there be no greedy persons among you."
What does it mean to be a thermostat rather than a thermometer in a Christian context?
How does Paul's theme of imitation shape our understanding of Christian behavior?
What practical steps can you take to ensure you are living with conviction and compassion like Jesus?
What does the term 'porneia' signify in relation to sexual immorality according to scripture?
What role does the concept of 'covenant relationship' play in understanding God's design for sexuality?
In what ways can we actively combat a culture that encourages sinful behavior?
What does it reveal about God’s character when we understand His serious stance on sin?
What can you do this week to shift your focus from 'what can I get' to 'what can I give' in your relationships?
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