Essentials: Christian Conduct

Introduction

Good Morning and welcome back to our series called “Essentials” where we are looking closely at what “We believe...” and how it is expressed in our Declaration of Faith.

Two months ago we began with the “Word of God” which is the special revelation of God by which we have come to know all of these other things that we believe. Since that first Sunday we have covered what “We believe...” about

The majesty and mystery of the Trinity,

The plan of the Father,

The payment by the Son

The power of the Spirit and

The effects of all these things in how they work to regenerate an individual and

Draw individuals together locally to be apart of the Church that is recognized globally.

And everything that we “We believe...” about these things we understand from The Word of God. This is just as true, if not even more needed, for our topic today. In fact, I want to introduce our topic for today by reviewing what “We believe...” about the The Word of God and see if you can make the connection. Take a look on the screen as I read:

The Word of God

We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

Did you see the connection? There at the end: the Word of God has supreme authority in all matters of faith...and... conduct. Or as you may have heard me say, God’s Word has final authority in every area of belief and behavior.

Tension

I submit to you this morning that out of everything that have gone through so far in this series, this topic is the one that Christians have the hardest time applying. We are good with talking over what we believe about God, His People and His Church but when it comes to our individual behavior…whoa wait a minute…now you are getting personal. I am good with coming to Church and nourishing my spiritual life, but once that box is checked…then…the rest of my life is mine.

But is that what God’s Word teaches?

God Knows my heart

One of the biggest examples that we see of this is when a self-proclaiming Christian is confronted because they said or did something “clearly un-Christ like” and so “Un-Christian like” then tries to excuse it away with a statement like...“Well…God knows my heart”.

As if God’s realm in our life is limited to our hearts and as long as things are good there, it doesn’t matter what I do or say out in the “real world”. And the truth is that God does know our hearts, but the problem with using that phrase as and excuse for sin is that our heart is where all our sinful behavior comes from.

Jesus said it this way:

Matthew 15:18–19 ESV

18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

Wow! That is quite a list of things in ones heart. And don’t forget how Jesus took things like murder and adultery and said that if you have hated or lusted in your heart you are guilty of the act itself.

Do you get the picture? Our hearts are never in better shape than our behavior. Our heart is where our sinful behavior comes from. Moving over to the Gospel of Luke we can hear Jesus elaborate even more on this idea:

Luke 6:45 ESV

45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

The condition of our heart is not separated from our words or deeds, it is the root cause of the things that we say and do - whether good or evil. So it makes no sense to try and excuse wrong behavior with “God knows my heart” that is just making it worse! “Yeah, He does know your heart and He knows that is exactly where that sinful behavior just came from”

And this is certainly not a new idea, in fact the Bible tells us that the Apostles were combatting the same thing in early days of the Church. We don’t have any record of someone directly saying “God knows my heart” but we do have historical and Biblical records of people trying to separate what they believe from how they behave.

There was a group of false teachers who rose up in the Church and eventually would be known as the “Gnostics” taught that your spiritual self is so far removed from your physical self that you needn’t worry about what you do with your physical body - as long as you feed and nourish your spirit because all that really matters is your heart.

They even tried to prove how un-concerned they were over their physical selves that some would completely neglect the nourishment their bodies needed because they were only concerned with their spiritual self. They were often so helpless they could hardly stand up and people would say, “Wow what a spiritual giant, to be able to neglect the physical in such a way!”.

Or on the other side they would prove their “spiritual enlightenment” by indulging in every kind of lustful gluttony and depravity with their bodies, because the body is evil and all that really matters is the condition of your Spirit. You don’t have to be a hound dog to sniff out the “cult” in that idea do you?!

And you can almost hear it can’t you...“Well…God knows my heart”

But as we have clearly seen, Jesus never left room for an excuse like this. In fact, in the following verse of the Luke 6 passage he says:

Luke 6:46 ESV

46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

“Because you know my heart?”

Clearly Jesus is not just concerned about what we believe, but about how we behave in response to those beliefs.

This is what our statement on “Christian Conduct” speaks to. It speaks to the expectations that Jesus has given us for how we behave because of what we believe in our heart. These two things are intimately connected and to try and separate them is an exercise in futility, because Jesus says that our behavior is the evidence of what is truly in our heart.

And so lets spend some time this morning looking to our supreme authority on all faith and conduct,The Word of God to discover what “CHristian Conduct” should look like for a believer. Again, we will be hopping around some so feel free to keep an eye to the screen or your notes page to keep track of where we are this week.

Before we do this, lets pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in our journey to understand Christian Conduct.

Truth

Let’s start here with a quick fly by on our statement on Christian Conduct and then we will dive into the various ideas that it presents along with the Biblical proofs for these ideas.

Christian Conduct

We believe that Christians should live for the glory of God and the well being of his fellow men (others), that our conduct should be blameless before the world, that we should be faithful stewards of our possessions and that we should seek to realize for ourselves and others the full stature of maturity in Christ

Even in that quick fly by we can see how “We believe...” that our conduct matters and that it makes a difference not just for us, but also for those around us. Let’s take a deeper look, starting with the first sentence... which I would say is a great summary statement:

We believe that Christians should live for the glory of God and the well being of (others),

This is probably not an earth shattering concept for most of us, as when asked about the greatest commandment , Jesus gave us these same two targets. From Mark 12 we read

Mark 12:30–31 ESV

30 And 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.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

These are the two greatest commandments, to love God and love our neighbors and so it makes sense that we should aim our lives in these two directions. Let’s break them down individually now...

First off, to “live for the glory of God” is to behave worshipfully.

“So we are supposed to sing all day?” No, of course not. Singing is a very effective form of worship but it is not the only way to worship God. To “Worship” is to give God the glory that He deserves. We can do this is song, in words or in deeds done in reference and reverence of Him. Paul tells us in 1 Cor 10

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Eating, drinking, and in general what ever we are doing is all behavior or conduct that we are to be doing to the glory of God. But even as their minds were still processing that idea, Paul moves directly into how “doing all to the glory of God” should effect our relationships with others:

1 Corinthians 10:32–33 ESV

32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

These verses beautifully bridge these two ideas together: to “live for the glory of God” is to behave worshipfully and secondly...

To Live for the Well being of others is to behave selflessly

At the risk of sounding like an inspiration poster on a break room wall, let me just remind us all that: “Behaving “selflessly” is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.” Or as Paul said it, it is not seeking my own advantage but I seek the advantage of others that they may be saved.

He said something similar to the Church in Philippi when we he told them to...

Philippians 2:3–4 ESV

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

This is not about self-depreciation, notice it says we are to “count” them as more significant. It says nothing about them actually being more significant than we are. They may or may not be depending on the scale we are using, but we are to humbly consider them as more significant and then even as we naturally look out for our own interest, we should also consider theirs.

This kind of “selfless” behavior is the “super-natural” overflow of a life dedicated to the glory of God. We are not talking about two separate things, but one cause that brings two effects. God is glorified and the people around us are blessed because we have behaved in a “God-glorifying” way.

In Colossians chapter 3 we read:

Colossians 3:17 ESV

17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

We not only “believe” in the name of the Lord Jesus, but we are to “do” in his name as well. And after this introduction, the Apostle Paul goes on to list how this works in the various relationships in our lives.

How husbands should glorify God in their behavior toward their wife

How wives should glorify God in their behavior toward their husband

How children should glorify God in their behavior toward their parents

How parents should glorify God in their behavior toward their children

How bondservant/employees should glorify God in their behavior toward their earthly masters/bosses

And after all that we read

Colossians 3:23–24 ESV

23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

In everyone of these relationships the “other” person does benefit by our selflessness, but ultimately it is not just about their “well being” but we do these things for the glory of the Lord. As Jesus said in Matthew 5

Matthew 5:16 ESV

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

We believe that Christians should live for the glory of God (to behave worshipfully) and the well being of others(to behave selflessly) and

That our conduct should be blameless before the world, which is to behave with Integrity

And you might say, “Wait a minute…blameless...Jesus’ conduct was perfect and yet people blamed him for all kinds of things- so how can we be “blameless”. The only way that anyone could “blame” Jesus was to lie about Him. Why? Because Jesus’ walk always matched his talk.

That is what this being “blameless” is all about. It is not that the world is going to always agree with our message or even our methods. They may not like what we have to say or even that we feel compelled to say it. But they should never be able to say - “I can see from your behavior that you don’t even believe in what you are saying.” Our walk has to match our talk. We need to be practicing what we preach. We have to behave with Integrity.

What does that look like, well the Bible gives us many examples, I’ll just give you a few this morning.

Philippians 2:14 ESV

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing,

(Yup. That’s a real verse in the Bible…every parent is grabbing a pen to write this one down,,,)

How can we share the message of unspeakable joy over all that we have been given in Christ when we grumble and argue over having to do these things. Paul goes on to point to this being a way to be blameless.

Philippians 2:14–15 ESV

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

Let me quick throw a couple more your way...

Romans 12:17–18 ESV

17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

“Yeah, but they did it to me....” remember that grumbling thing. Even the Old Testament speaks of the walking blamelessly. Psalm 15:1-3 reads:

Psalm 15:1–3 ESV

1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; 3 who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

And we could go on an on with these examples, especially when we look to the Gospels and the many times that Jesus confronts the religious leaders over their rampant hypocrisy.

But all this “doing” stuff can send us in the wrong direction if we are not careful. This is not about earning our Salvation, it is how we show that we have already trusted Jesus for our salvation. And we have to remember that “practicing what we preach” includes the message of daily repentance and the gift of forgiveness. Being “blameless” doesn’t mean being perfect. We could never be that, it just means that we are honest about our sin, we hate it’s destructive power in our lives and so we repent and receive the forgiveness promised by Jesus.

We need to rest fully on 1 John 1:9 that says

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is a mighty work, and a long process and we shouldn’t try to circumvent it with excuses. We need to honestly and humbly engage in this process that God is working in and through us each day.

But what about those times when we are wrongly accused? When we are being blamed for doing the right thing?

1 Peter 3:13 starts out with

1 Peter 3:13 ESV

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

That is a nice thought, but then even the Apostle Peter acknowledges that doing the right thing is not always rewarded. And so he continues...

1 Peter 3:14–17 ESV

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

We are to be blameless, having integrity between what we say we believe and how we behave because of it. That includes the process of confession, repentance and forgiveness.

Another important aspect of our “Christian Conduct” is...

That we should be faithful stewards of our possessions. This is to behave generously

(So this is the part in the service where we take our offering so if the ushers would start passing the fried chicken buckets) I’m just kidding.

The truth is that even though the Christian Church has historically used the word “stewardship” in reference to finances, the Bible rarely if ever does. What we do see is that a steward is anyone who has been given the responsibility to care for the possessions of another. Scripture most often uses the word in references to the many things that God has given to us to use for His kingdom.

A good example is in 1 Peter 4:10-11

1 Peter 4:10–11 ESV

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

When we submit to the Lordship of Christ everything we have is His. Whether that be our voice, our time, our energy or our finances. We just can’t seem to get past the idea that everything that we do is to be done for the glory of God.

Our last theme is...

That we should seek to realize for ourselves and others the full stature of maturity in Christ. This is to behave maturely.

The essence of Christian Conduct is that we are to take steps to grow in our relationship with Christ in such a way that we become more and more like Jesus. The quintessential passage for this idea is found in Ephesians 4:11-15 where it says:

Ephesians 4:11–15 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

This is exactly why we are tackling our “Declaration of Faith” this summer. We want to “attain the unity of the faith” and grow into mature disciples of Jesus Christ who reflect him well to a world that desperately needs Him.

Gospel Application

I began the message this morning by rejecting the phrase “God knows my heart” as an excuse for sin, but as this is a true statement it can be used in positive ways. I don’t know if you have ever had this experience before, but I have had times when feeling especially tired, or impatient, or pressured or for no reason at all I have had thoughts come to mind or words come out my mouth that caused me to stop and think...”Where in the world did that come from!”.

Have you ever had and experience like that? All of the sudden you are dwelling on or talking about something that you know is not Christ-like and you stop yourself and you just can’t believe that you just thought or said that.

And then remembering what Jesus taught us about how those kinds of things come from our hearts, initially this can be kind of scary…but then I find a measure of comfort in knowing that God knows my heart - all of my heart - even the darkest parts of me that rarely come out in my behavior and yet He still loved me enough to sent His Son to die for me.

And that doesn’t mean that I just ignore or excuse those thoughts or actions, “Christian Conduct” demands that I respond to God’s great love for me by confessing my sin, turning from it, repenting of it and taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5). And not simply as an act of “duty”, but because Sin is dangerous and never to be taken lightly.

Landing

So when a brother or sister in Christ has the courage to lovingly confront us in some aspect of our conduct - let’s not have our first response to just excuse it away. Let’s commit as a Church family to investigate it, repent of any sin revealed, and thank them for the gift of being able to leave behind one more sinful attitude or action in our quests to do all for the glory of God.