Living in the Body - Part 2: Love by Law and Grace

Thesis: The Law brings us to Love and Grace grows it within us.

For Kids: Follow through, even after it’s done.

Throwing a ball.

Running a race.

Praying one extra time

Me:

Thesis:

For Kids:

Me:

Wednesday night meals/bible study - 3 years old.

First was Bible study happening in different places

Then we started coming together as a big group to share between the smaller groups

Somewhere around year 3 we decided to change some of the focus from Bible Study to offering a meal - especially for those who usually eat alone.

If I’m eating alone, I’m working while I’m doing it, or occasionally watching television. When I’m not eating with others there is not anything I look forward to about eating… it’s like filling my car with gas… if I don’t do it regularly I run out of gas and can’t go anywhere.

I’m an introvert, and sometimes I would rather eat alone so I can get caught up with work

But I know that I NEED to be around other people on a regular basis to keep me growing in my faith through serving others and receiving encouragement from them.

Not just the same people either.

I used to have the same 3 or 4 friends that I did everything with. We were a tight group and we never let anyone in. I never grew in that group, and certainly not closer to God. We all stayed the same until I joined a church and made new friends, and then they really didn’t want me around anymore. It wasn’t just church, or God, it was the fact that I was not giving them all my time and attention.

What I love about Wednesday nights is that we always seem to have new folks coming in to join us.

Makes sense because here in Campbellsville, we have such a transitional population that you could meet a new friend every week and never get to meet everyone in town.

They come from all walks of life and all kinds of faith backgrounds.

We:

The Path of Discipleship

Bishop Fairley will be preaching the first Wednesday in October about the path of discipleship, which he has divided up into 4 parts - very similar to what we studied last year.

But if you really want to get down to basics, there are just 2 Levels of Christians (with a journey in between) - the path of discipleship - the Way

Infants:

- 2 Levels of Christians (with a journey in between) - the path of discipleship - the Way

Infants:

Infants:

Mature:

There’s no shame in being an infant and there’s nothing really to brag about being a mature believer

The Goal is growing closer to God today than you were yesterday.

God:

God:

Childlike faith does not mean immature faith

It means being someone who is focused upon the Law of Love

What is the Law of Love?

Romans 13:8–10 NRSV

Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

Romans 13:

Love for One Another

Mark 12:30–31 NRSV

you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:29–31 NRSV

Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:31 NRSV

The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

James 2:8 NRSV

You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

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The Law is founded upon loving God and one another.

You won’t get more basic than that

If you are not loving God and others, you’ve either not started your Christian walk yet, or you’ve stunted your growth by rebelling against God, holding onto some kind of sin, and will be stuck there until you decide to repent and follow God’s most basic instructions again.

Like a child that keeps running away from home, you are in a dangerous place when you turn away from this command to love God and others, and you are setting yourself up for a very hard, very spiritually dangerous life.

The Law of Love is like a big neon sign that tells us how and where we can connect in and get started with our faith.

Faith does not come from ourselves - it comes from being loved by God. God always, always, always loves us first.

Doubting Thomas and the resurrection

He missed what the other disciples experienced

As soon as he experienced the risen Jesus, he responded with faith

If you have not received love, you don’t know how to love and cannot fulfill the law

Like babies learning to walk and talk… Spiritual infants are those who have received love and are trying to figure out how to imitate it themselves

We are not meant to stay spiritual infants or toddlers forever though.

Grace grows our love:

Romans 13:11–14 NRSV

Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Romans 13:11-

Paul’s biggest problem with the Law was not that it was mistaken, misleading, or unhelpful.

He (and Jesus as well) thought it was simply being used in the wrong way

The Law does not make us Good

It only shows us where the starting line is to get there

An Urgent Appeal

Like a race, the Law is the starting line, that shows us how to begin, but it is Grace that actually gets us across the finish line.

Sanctifying Grace:

The process that has been called “Sanctification” which means “growing in grace” has been used for most of the 2000 year history of the Church

It’s not a word Jesus used.

Jesus spoke of sanctifying grace in His command for us to “be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect”

Matthew 5:48 NRSV

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

That doesn’t sound any easier

Shepherd and Sheepdog example:

11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12 the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13 let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

We are all like a shepherd trying to care for his sheep.

The Shepherd is our will - our mind - the part of us that makes choices

The Sheep are like the many desires and distractions that we have to keep in line.

It’s a hard job for a shepherd.

However, If a shepherd can get a good sheepdog, it will help keep the sheep together so the shepherd can focus on leading them instead of having to constantly corral them together.

So the question is: How do you get and keep a good sheepdog.

Answer: Grace brings you one as a gift… but you have to feed it if you want to keep it.

How do you feed Grace?

Love. Specifically Love that goes above and beyond the law.

There is no law that says we have to seek out and make new friends

But if we do not, we will be stuck fighting the same sins and temptations our entire life… by ourselves.

Sanctifying Grace:

You:

Do you have the Holy Spirit working in you to fight your spiritual battles with you?

Have you experienced that change in yourself, where you no longer struggle with the same temptations you did before?

Do you have a sheepdog, rounding up those sheep for you so you can focus on where to go and grow next?

How do you feed that sheepdog?

We:

We don't have to judge others where they are in their walk - we only need to know how to best encourage them forward.

It's not always the same way.

Different people have different growing edges.

But we have the same Savior in Jesus Christ, and He is leading us all to the same place.

We can choose to encourage those around us as they make the journey of discipleship, and we can feed the grace in ourselves while we are doing it.

Faith is a team sport.

Don’t try to do it alone.

Do just the opposite. If you want to grow yourself… make room for God to connect you with new people in your life, and you and we all will encourage each other as we walk upon the Way, the Truth, and the Life God created for us.