A Path To Righteousness

Introduction

Building a path in the backyard.

What I found when I dug it out…grass, roots, trash.

All stuff that I could not see from the surface!

All that stuff, and the dirt, had to be removed to prepare a surface upon which the walkway will go.

Our lives, over time, accrue trash. Sin.

People have the tendency to normalize sin.

We just stop thinking about what is truly going on and accept it as who we are, part of our identity.

Extinguish The Enemy

Pathway will eventually get weeds. Something I’ll have to monitor and take care of when they pop up. Get some of that…what’s it called…diesel.

vv. 16-21

Sin must be killed.

Mortification of sin.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The old self has not been left to roam and ruin.

This requires a mindset of saying I will do the hard work to remove sin from my life.

Now, let’s be clear…what the Bible says...

John 10:28 ESV

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

This isn’t about gaining or maintaining your salvation. You can’t lose your salvation. Eternal security. This is about the change that salvation makes in our lives.

But,

Desires change with salvation.

The attitude of a true believer is never, “Well, I can do whatever I want because I’ve been forgiven!”

The Indwelling Spirit will crush that attitude. So, with all seriousness, if that is your attitude, I invite you to come to Jesus today and experience true salvation.

Discover The Source

vv. 22-27

Those roots don’t give up. Every year the trimming of the little trees. Until I can dig down and remove or kill the roots!

Roots or triggers for sin? Discover them.

Don’t visit your sin!

Put it away from where you can interact with it.

Colossians 3:8–10 ESV

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

What or Who or Where triggers these things? Then you need to distance yourself from them.

Nature abhors a vacuum. Do everything it can to fill that space with something.

Spiritually, we are a bit like this. If we remove God, it leaves a vacuum that we will desperately try to fill with something else.

Sports and politics. Religious fanaticism without the substance of God. And, therefore, without the hope of Jesus.

Victory Brings Joy

Looking forward to finishing this project. Get to sit back and just enjoy the result. Well, not sit back! But enjoy it as I move on to the next project!

v. 28

For the Israelites, each city represented getting closer to what God had promised to them.

And, ultimately, who was fighting for them?

Land = Covenant = Relationship

God wants us to have the right relationship with Him, devoid of sin.

Something which appears insurmountable, God will equip and empower you to overcome them to attain victory and a right relationship with Him.

Exodus 15:3 ESV

The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.

The divine warrior. Fighting on your behalf. Fighting to give you victory over sin.

Conclusion

Shaq paying for an engagement ring rather than letting him put in on layaway.

The need sometimes we face when we face our sin. Ultimately, Jesus provides victory.

When we stumble, He lifts us up.

Maybe, this morning, you need to turn to Jesus for forgiveness.

But, maybe, if you are a believer, you need to be real honest with yourself and admit that there is still sin in your life. And you’ve just accepted it, and maybe even like it. This morning, prayer of repentance and a prayer of trust and a prayer for strength.

I need to be saved.

I am saved, but I need to repent of sin.