Slaves to Righteousness

Hello, everyone. Today is Tuesday, June the 20th. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm John Galantis. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com, or if you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028. You can also email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

That's right. You guys can help us keep this conversation going by supporting the show, sharing it online, leaving us a good review on iTunes, Spotify, and where you get your podcasting content from, your podcasting content. We are going to leave a link in the description so you can do just that. No tongues were harmed in the making of this introductory segment, even though some seem twisted. Do you want to read from Behrouz today?

I would like to read from, I don't know what that is. I'd like to read from Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 12. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. I think that's a good reminder for me that this earth is not our home.

This is not our permanent place. All of these saints that he's talking about, they died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them. Just talking about when Abraham was counted righteousness by his faith, they knew, and Dr. Shust says this all the time on the show, the people in the Old Testament knew that there was someone coming. God laid it out in the very beginning in Genesis, that this promise is coming. I can see it afar off, and I have faith. See, we get to look back with the assurance and say that Christ has done this, the work is done, now I'm going to trust in it. They had to say, God, I know you're going to do this in the future, and I'm going to live my life as though it's already happened. This passage comes from the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, where it talks about all these great heroes of our faith that we read about, the Sunday school heroes that are on the felt boards in Sunday schools. Just like you were talking about, Jon, it's afar off. You see something in the distance, you might not be able to make out all the details of it yet, but you know that it's there. These heroes, these men and women knew that Christ was coming.

They might not have had all the details, all the specifics, but they knew what to look for. I've got a repeat offender today. Harold B. Harold!

What's up, bud? What's your dream travel destination? Oh, that's a good question. That is a good one. I have this romanticized idea of visiting Ireland or New Zealand, big rolling planes, lots of greenery, and all that kind of stuff. I'd like to visit there, but I have two.

Israel is one. I would love to go to Israel. And I'd love to visit somewhere that's very remote snowy, like Antarctica or North Pole or something. There's mounds and droves and mountains of snow.

Snow. You want to go there for your vacation. Your dream travel destination, you want to be frigid cold, icicles off the nose, break it, use them as chopsticks. As someone who's been to Israel, let me just go on ahead and say, do go, because it is fantastic.

It will change your life. I think for me, I just want to go to Hawaii. I want to go somewhere tropical.

Hold? You want to go to the snow? Yeah, lots of snow.

Tons, like mountains of snow. Antarctica will kill you, bud. Could have said a beach.

You were fine. You started strong with Ireland was weird, but then you went with New Zealand. I'd like to go to Ireland. I think that's cool. Okay, cool. I'm going to ask Dr. Shah what his is. I think he's probably already been there, wherever it is on the earth. His dream location is where he has already been.

That's true. Done. Check that out on the list. We're going to see what he says, but if you guys have any questions or suggestions for new topics, text us at 252-582-5028, or you can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com. We're going to get Dr. Shah, and we'll be right back with have the petitions that we have asked of Him. If you're listening to the Clearview Today Show, we want to know how we can pray for you as well. There's a number of ways that you can get in touch with us at Clearview and share your prayer requests, but the best way is by texting us at 252-582-5028. You can also send us an email at prayer at ClearviewBC.org or you can download the Clearview app on iTunes or Google Play. You know, on that app there's a dedicated prayer wall that helps us to get to know what's going on in your life, how we can pray for you, and how we can take any necessary steps to get you moving in the right direction.

Thanks for listening, now let's get back to the show. Welcome back to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

If you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028. That's right, if today's your first time ever joining us on the Clearview Today Show, we want to welcome you, let you know exactly who's talking to you today. Dr. Abbadan Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show.

You can visit his website at AbbadanShah.com. Dr. Shah, we're gonna jump into our main segment in just a second, but we've got to ask you this question. It was sent in by, it was Harold? This was Harold B. Harold B., who has asked several questions in the past. My boy, Harold.

He's a dedicated listener. But Harold wants to know, what is your dream travel location? And is it Antarctica? Because somebody in this room said Antarctica, and I got a little upset. I said a place like Antarctica, not necessarily Antarctica specifically, but just lots of snow.

Like, you knew people died there. I'm thinking the moon. Whoa!

The moon. That is out of this world. You know what?

You know what? People are gonna think you're joking, but that may not be so far from fantastic. Isn't that crazy? That's crazy. Man, that would be pretty cool. That would be pretty crazy. That's a dream.

That's a dream. We're jumping back into this discussion on what it means to be free. You know, on yesterday's episode we talked about true freedom and how, you know, a lot of times we as believers, we are free, but we still live like we're in bondage to sin. But you said something yesterday, and I want us to explore that a little bit on today's episode. The true freedom only comes when we're slaves to righteousness. If we can, let's spend a little time there today and talk about what does that mean. Absolutely.

Well, let me take a minute just to recap yesterday. So, we are free from master sin. This is going back to Romans 6.6. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

So, that's an important thing. Sin was our old master, but God has freed us from him not by killing master sin, but by crucifying us, the old man. So, the master sin is still alive, but us, the slave, is dead. But now we are, because of what Christ has done for us, which is now looking at verse 17.

This is, again, Romans 6 and verse 17. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. So, thanks be to God that you were slaves of sin. Nonetheless, you obeyed from the heart.

So, you obeyed. Instead of obeying master sin, you reckoned yourself dead. You believed it, and you obeyed the doctrine.

What is a doctrine? That Jesus came to give his life for you on the cross. And he died, but he rose again on the third day. And when he died, he died your death. He took the penalty of God's wrath upon you, upon himself. But then he also died the death that you were meant to die. Okay? So, he died, but he died for you in two ways. Do you understand the two forms of death that is happening? For your sins, and then for you.

Okay? So, what does it mean to obey from the heart? So, imagine there's a person here who is lost, does not know Christ. Somehow the gospel comes to this person, maybe through preaching, maybe through a Bible study, maybe through a friend, whatever, whatever. The person is convicted, and they receive Jesus as their savior.

What shall I do? Well, this person received Christ as their savior. They obey from the heart. This is not half obedience.

This is not partial obedience. This is full obedience as to who Christ is, why he came, and what he did for us. At that very moment, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in that person. God makes that person's spirit a new spirit. And that person's spirit becomes one with God's spirit. We don't become God. We will never in eternity forever and ever become God.

That's not happening. But God does share with us his, you know, not necessarily his deity, but he shares with us not even his glory. He will not share his glory with another. This is more his love, his attributes. He shares them with us.

Okay. So as long as this new believer is obedient to the light that God has given to him or her, the Holy Spirit has access to flow through that life. As long as you're obedient, you know, you obeyed from the heart, that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. As long as you stay obedient to that light that God has given, the Holy Spirit has access to that life, body and environment, and reproduce the life of Jesus.

Why? Because that person obeyed from the heart. See, I like that because a lot of times people will try to make salvation out to be this completely passive thing. It's something that God decides in heaven.

You have no choice in doing it. He saves you when he's ready to save you. It just takes the decision and the obedience completely out of the picture, you know? And then if there's no decision and if there's no active, I don't want to say active participation because I'm not adding anything to my salvation, but what I mean is if I don't choose to receive it, then what separates me from the lost person? Is it just, is it just God playing eeny meeny miny moe in heaven? Well, the people who espouse to that form of determination, I'm not saying determination as in like I'm determined.

No, determination in the sense of that you're picked, you're chosen, you had no part to play. I know why they're doing that. They're doing that so they can take away any ounce of personal self-righteousness in the redemption process.

I get it and I am hundred percent or make a thousand percent, make it a billion, trillion percent, a gazillion. I'm agreed with them. Anytime you bring something to add to the mix of the redemption, then you are saying what Jesus did was not enough.

I had to add to it. So I would agree with them a hundred percent. But does that mean my saying yes to God, also my self-righteousness? And I would say no.

Yeah. Because me choosing to accept that gift, like if you gave me a gift, right? If you're like, Hey, I got you this Rolex. And I'm like, Oh, thank you very much. I accept.

I didn't pay, I didn't contribute at all to the giving, to you giving me that Rolex. I think they are doing what I hundred percent agree, like I said, zillion percent agree that anytime anyone begins to add something to salvation, it's the beginning of the end and a very quick end. That gospel is corrupted.

How badly is it corrupted? Read Galatians chapter one. Paul says, even if an angel from heaven were to say another gospel, don't believe it.

Even if we were to say, Paul is saying like, if tomorrow I show up and I say, Hey guys, this gospel that I preached to you, salvation by grace through faith and in Christ alone, let me explain what I mean by that. You have to bring your good works. Okay.

You have to add to Christ. Don't believe me. That's what Paul is saying. Don't even listen to me at that point. Wow. So I understand why these people say what they say, but I think in trying to protect the purity of the gospel, they, they begin to infringe on something that does not corrupt the gospel, which is your acceptance.

Right. You said that before that these, these doctrines that we consider secondary or tertiary have implications for primary doctrines, especially salvation being one of those. If you start to compromise or if you start to over clarify one down here, it could have unwanted implications for one. That's I mean, doesn't come down to, I mean, how far do you want to take it?

Did Eve really sin or was she predetermined to do that? I mean, it just gets into a lot of, a lot of stuff. And I know people have answers to everything, so they'll be like, well, that doesn't, that's not what we're talking about. So it didn't be go on and on. But if you really look at it on face value, then everything becomes predetermined.

And then what, then what? It seems more reactionary. Like we want to avoid this outcome. So we're going to swing all the way here and we should avoid this, but like a reaction is not necessarily something to base a theological premise on.

We need to, we need to discover what the truth says. And I think we can do that without compromising the purity of the work of God, holy, you know? So what happens when the person now obeys from the heart? They begin to grow in grace.

One by one, the Holy Spirit wants to set this person free. And so Manly Beasley was an amazing guy. He lived back in the eighties.

I think he died in the early nineties, if I'm not wrong. And Manly Beasley, don't go with Basil Manly. Okay. That's two different people. Basil Manly was one of the foundational people in the Southern Baptist convention. Okay. Two different people.

Manly Beasley. He was an evangelist. He was very much about the life of Christ in you, what it means to walk by faith.

This person has made a tremendous impact on my life. Yup. 1990. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And he got terribly sick and then he died. Amazing. He's impacted a lot of people right now in our convention. And who was the other one that you said?

Basil Manly was a totally different person. Okay. But related in some way, like still a Christian figure?

Christian figure, but from the, after the civil war, 1800. I got you. Okay. Very similar names. Yeah.

But it's just like backwards and often if you don't type it correctly on Google, if you do it, go and do it. I mean, Basil Manly, see who comes up. So, but as you're looking for that. Yeah. Basil Manly senior. I see it. Who is he?

He was an American planter, preacher and chaplain best known as the author of the Alabama resolutions, which formed part of the government for the creation of the Southern Baptist convention on pro-slavery grounds. Yeah. So it's a whole different person. Okay.

Very different guy. Yeah. So now let's begin with the first hangup, which is stealing. So one day this new Christian is listening to a message like this one and the Holy Spirit convicts that person's heart that they should be giving their money to the Lord. I mean, you know, when you don't tithe, you're stealing. That's right. That's right. And so once you're saved, everything is now God's.

So we are his slaves. And by the way, it's not 10%. It's a hundred percent now belongs to God and 10% is still giving by the law.

That's right. So a hundred percent is living by grace. Sadly, most people in church are barely tithing. And as Manly Beasley would say, God is gracious and he still uses fragmented light to send us fragmented truth. And at least let us be fragmented Christians, which pretty much is most people sitting in the church pews. And if you feel like maybe this isn't such a huge deal, why don't you go back a couple of weeks or maybe a month or so and listen to our series on Malachi?

Cause God does take that very, very seriously. Yeah. You have robbed me. And yet you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. That's right. So nevertheless, most will never understand beyond the 10% and that's that.

That's it. I give my tithes. You will hear a message like this, where the pastor will say, if you give your 10% to the Lord, he will turn around and give you back much more.

You can get by further on 90% than on a hundred percent. Now that does not make any sense mathematically when a preacher says that or logically, and the devil will argue with you, but that is the truth. But if you obey from the heart, just the way you obey from the heart that Jesus died for your sins and trusting in him, you can have eternal life. When you obey from that heart, that doctrine that I can live on 90% much more than I can live on a hundred percent by stealing. What happens is you, you go to God and say, God, I'm going to give. Lord, I don't know how we're going to make it because I'm losing this 10% giving to you, but we're going to trust you. What happens in that moment that you do that, you are free from stealing.

And I love that because we don't think that we're stealing because it's mine. I earned it. I did stuff.

I did. Yeah. Right. Right.

That's what I'm saying. We don't tend to think of it as stealing from God. Think of everything that God has given you.

Think of the breath that he gave you and the electrical impulses he put in the brain, the muscles he gave you to do all that work. And he's saying, this is my 10%. You're like, well, maybe next month. I'm a little tight.

Let me get you next month. All of the money that you have, all the resources that you have are God's and the very capability that you have to earn those resources was given to you by God. But so literally everything that you are and have and own belongs to God. But I think, and not even I think, I've seen over my 10 years of being here that that's what you said, Dr. Shah, is 100% correct. Once you start giving and you start giving above 10%, your life, it's seriously, I don't know where it comes from, but blessings start to come in. And it really, and it's one of those cliche things that people say, but it's cliche because it's true. And people keep saying it because it's the truth. And you become slaves of righteousness because up until now you were a slave of, of that sin. But since you obeyed from the heart, you listen to what that preacher was saying, or you're listening to this radio broadcast or this podcast and you're going, yeah, I can live on 90% far more than I can live on 100%. All is it by grace anyways, because 100% belongs to God.

So I should stop making this argument. Is it net or gross? And the answer is of course, it's gross, gross. Yeah, that's based off your gross. It's not, it's not based on your, your net. What's gross is your attitude.

You couldn't, that could not have surprised you. And if you stop, stop throwing this thing, this, this, you know, this argument up deck now, but you have no idea what I'm having to go through. Okay. I mean, if you're going to argue about it, just might as well stop listening. But God does. I mean, even the fact that you would say that you have no idea what I'm going through.

God does. You're not paying me. I'm not asking for your money. I'm not asking, you know, Dr. Shah is not asking for your money. Your pastor is not asking for your money so that they can be blessed by it.

It's for you. You need to be the one that's giving. Right. And Satan will give you plenty of reasons why you shouldn't be giving. Yeah, that's right.

Right. So some people are legalistic and they're tied because they have to, and there is no joy in it. It is all about obligation.

It's all by, you know, just I have to, but those who truly believe are set free and they become slaves of righteousness. You know, I like to think about when whenever Elizabeth and I put our tithe in is, if you've ever seen those dollar bills that has like a, where has, where has George been, where it's stamped on it, you can track where all the places where this dollar bill has been. I like to think about the tithe like that. Like I wonder what this is going to go to. I wonder if it's going to go help something in the building. I wonder if it's going to go help an outreach project. I wonder if it's going to go, I wonder where this money is going to end up.

How is God going to use this money that I'm putting in there? And it just, it changes the mindset. Do you ever come in across people who are so surface where it's like, okay, fine, I'll do the things that you're asking me to do, but you feel like that's just where it stops.

Like they have no desire to grow. It's like, okay, fine. You want my money? Take it. You want my, you want my time on Sundays?

Have it. Yeah. And it's not as many, but there are a few who get like that because in time Holy Spirit will either break you down or you never have the Holy Spirit.

Right? So the Holy Spirit will not let you stay in that place very long because sooner or later a message like this or a song that is full of the Holy Spirit is going to speak to your hearts. And you will know at that moment that the life of bitterness and unbelief is not the way God wants you to live. He wants you to live free. He wants you to live trusting him. He wants you to live you know, believing that God is your heavenly father and you don't have to carry whatever burden you're carrying. You can give it over to him. And he carries that the bill, the problem, the struggle, the worry that you have over health or, or loved ones or children or the world or your church or whatever it is, you don't have to carry that. Give it over to God. There's so much freedom there, you know, so the Holy Spirit is going to help you and not leave you there. Right. So yeah, there are people who are like that just kind of with their teeth gridden, you know, serving God, but not as many.

Either they're lost or sooner or later they're going to break down. That's true. But the second hangup, let's go to that. It's like, it's the things we people like to do, you know, and there are worse sins in the world. I get it, but let's just talk about smoking and dipping and chewing and all of that kind of stuff. Now in a service, again, this is Manly Beasley.

All right. So he talks about in a service, a pastor is preaching and he's preaching on smoking or chewing and dipping and two men get convicted. They're both convicted that they are abusing the temple of the Holy Spirit. Man, number one, he is convicted that he needs to stop.

God did not give it to me and I need to try my best to quit it. But I'm not going to go forward and put these cigarettes on the altar because if I don't quit, I will make God look bad. So he's really concerned about God's reputation. No, he's really concerned about his own reputation. God is perfectly capable of handling his reputation.

We need to worry about ourselves, honestly. And so, you know, this, he takes them home, he takes his cigarettes home and he puts them away. Doesn't tell anybody because he don't want to, you know, because if tomorrow he is smoking again, Hey, I thought, I thought God helped you, you know?

He did, but he did, but I was going to start next week. Yeah. So he gets one of those small pocket Bibles and he puts it where his pack of cigarettes would go. He gets a patch, gets a pack of gum, bag of sunflower seeds.

We've been there and he works on them. When he gets around people at work, he wants cigarettes so bad. He cannot even stand it. He's miserable. He's miserable. He has real willpower.

He may even quit, but he still wants one. Folks, that's religion. That's not Christianity. That's how we all try to do it. I'm going to determine myself and I've got an iron will and it's going to carry me to victory. By golly, I'm going to do it. I'm just going to white knuckle my way through it. I've done it, dude.

I've done it with trying to eat cleaner, trying to drink more water. I guarantee I'm, look, look at this. What I got right here. Guarantee you, guarantee you, I will not have this two months from now. I will not be drinking out of this.

It's just the way when we try to determine for ourselves to protect God, your God has nothing to do with it. But now here's man number two. I know you're wondering what happened to the man.

Number two, here it is. He's also convicted that he needs to stop. God did not give me this habit and I can't handle it.

I detest myself for using these things. He comes to God and says, God, unless you help me, I can do it. So he obeys from the heart.

Are y'all understanding why I'm talking like this and why manly busy said what he said? Obeys from the heart. That's right. Not just obeys, obeys from the heart.

There's a huge difference. He obeys from the heart, that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. He comes by the cross and by grace and he falls before the Lord.

Would you like to know what happens next? He gets around the same people who smoke and he doesn't even want one. Now Satan tempts him, but the temptation is from the outside.

It's not from the inside. He's free. He's free. No longer a slave to sin. So that's what obedience from the heart does. That's incredible.

That's strong. So man number one did not dislike Jesus or reject Jesus, but he decided to do it in his own power and he shut the door for the spirit of God and he forsook Jesus. This man will not grow in grace beyond that. He will grow in knowledge, but not in grace. So we have a lot of people sitting in our churches who have quit this and quit that, but it's not in grace. Spiritual knowledge means absolutely nothing if it has not changed your character. That's why people are sitting there going, I did the same thing that somebody who goes to this program or that program or read this book or that book or just quit cold turkey, whatever that is.

And that's the thing. It's like you may have quit. You may have achieved victory here, but your life isn't any better. You don't feel better.

You don't act better. There is no power of God because there is no from the heart obedience. So the moment you refuse to let Jesus have your problem, that's the moment you obey the flesh or you'll begin to obey the flesh and you start on the road leading to death. Now here's the third one. This is the one I think we all get to see sooner or later, which is uncontrollable temper.

Oh, my toes. This is one where most Christians struggle and they just cover it up really good. Why?

Because they haven't obeyed from the heart, that form of doctrine to which they were delivered. So Manly Beasley gives an illustration. He said, if I own 40 acres of land and I decided to sell 39 acres and keep one, you could build a house as big as 39 acres, but now I own one and you have to give me right away that proper. You got to give me that easement. I can come back and make him so miserable, confuse him, ridicule him and defeat him. Satan does not care if you have given 39 acres to the Lord, as long as you can keep one acre. Golly, if that ain't the truth. And the devil has control over you.

All he has to do is wait till he has you in the right place and then push the right button and you act like the devil. Haven't you seen people do that? Oh man, yes. Throw their whole testimony away over a weak moment in the grocery store. Yep, absolutely.

An argument with the wife that morning or a fight because of the kids or something and then... Not in your home either. That's going to happen in public. Everybody's going to see it. Ain't that the pastor of so-and-so's church? Oh, my goodness. Aren't they wearing a shirt that says that church name on it? Oh, my goodness. The lady's just like fainting.

Right there in aisle number three. Manly Beasley tells the story of this lady, kind of interesting, who was angry with her pastor who had said something wrong. Rather than getting right with God, she moved churches and it looked like everything was fine. She and her husband found a prominent place to serve. And so one time the pastor of the new church was preaching the gospel and the same lady stood up in church and cursed in front of everyone. Lady!

Lady! Don't do that. And she embarrassed herself and everybody else. And how did she do that? It started way back here because instead of obeying from the heart and dealing with that sin, she was going to, you know, just move.

But the Resident Evil was always there. How do you handle that? You have to go back and get our obedience right. That's right. That's right. You have to obey the correct way. Right. From the heart.

That's right. So, man, wow! I've got some stuff I've got to go home and pray about. If you guys have any questions or suggestions for new topics, or if you benefited from today's episode, let us know. Send us a text at 252-582-5028. Or you can get in touch with us online at cleareadtodayshow.com. Click that donate button. Partner with us as we seek to impact the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Love you guys. We'll see you next time on Clearview Today.