Living His Goodness, Part 2

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. We know that the Christian life calls us to live differently than we lived before coming to Christ. But we're not called to keep up appearances or simply manage our sin.

That would be equal to tying apples on a hemlock tree and calling it an apple tree. Instead, we have a radical call to abide in Christ, to let His Word inform and transform our desires and affections. The fruit in our lives will be a product of our genuine confidence and satisfaction in Him. Listen as Rich takes us through 1 Peter 2, 11-12, in this message titled, Living His Goodness. Today is the second part of this sermon, first preached on September 18, 2022. The realities of being in Christ, indwelt with His Spirit, forgiven, made new, all of that. Bring that to outward expression. Living the gospel.

Let me give you the Rich Powell translation. Verse 11, all these things being true and the banquet that God has for you, get out of the dumpster. Get out of the dumpster.

What on earth do you find attractive in the dumpster? I urge you, he says, very interesting word, okay. I urge you, that word urge, you know what word that is?

Parakaleo. You know what that means? To come alongside someone. And it's the call to. And it's the call to.

But the nuance there is coming alongside someone. So envision Peter, the aged apostle Peter, coming up to you and putting his arm around you. And he says, I urge you, with all this that is true, all that you have in Christ, and feasting at His banquet, abstained from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against the soul. But you see, this is the necessity of the church. Because there is teaching in this, but there is also discipleship in this. One life coming alongside another, so that together they walk in a God-ward direction.

Why? Because we are easily distracted. And when we take our focus off the prize, we become distracted with the stuff and the things and the events and the hurts of this world. We don't deny them, but they don't define us.

Now let me say, first of all, let me give you a caveat here. Verse 11, I urge you, as sojourners and exiles, to abstain from passions of the flesh, which wage war against the soul. Let me tell you what Peter is not saying. He is not calling us to desire suppression. That's not what he's saying. In other words, it's not Peter saying, you see all this stuff over here that people do, and people who aren't believers do, you see all that?

Don't do that. That's not what he's saying. This is a call to live the Gospel. This is not desire suppression. So how do we do this? We have to remember that what is taught to us in the New Testament, this is a key example here, where we need to take this imperative, and we need to understand it in the context of all of Scripture, everything that Jesus taught, everything the apostles taught, all the newness and reality that is ours, all the resource that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is a replacement principle. How do you break a bad habit? You replace it with a good habit. We have to battle them.

How do we do that? What resource do we have to fight against the passions of the flesh? Well, let's look at Galatians 5 16.

I think it's in there. Walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Walk by the Spirit. You know, see, again, he's not just saying stop it. He's giving you something higher and better and more beautiful and more satisfying to replace the passions of the flesh.

That thing in the dumpster which you think you might enjoy, he's saying, no, look, look, look, look at the banquet table, look, there's so much better stuff there. Romans 8 5. For those who have lived according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. What are you doing with your mind? What's feeding your imagination? What's informing your attitudes? All of this is directly related to us having the resource in Christ to be able to walk in the Spirit.

Why? Because we are filled with the Spirit. We are indwelt with the Spirit. So all this just simply means this, develop the habit of thinking biblically. How do you overcome the passions of the flesh? Develop the habit of thinking biblically.

How do you overcome the flesh? Develop the habit of thinking biblically. The Spirit of God and the Word of God are two key components in that equation.

Develop the habit of thinking biblically. The Spirit of God illuminates God's self-disclosure. He opens up God's Word to me. He illuminates it so that I can understand it and grasp it and so that it's informing me and transforming me. He brings to remembrance the things that God has said. As I read the Bible, as I memorize the Bible, the Spirit of God, one of his roles is to bring to remembrance the truths of God in my life.

Why? Because they guard me against the passions of the flesh. Because he's renewing my desires, my affections, and my attitudes. That's his work in me. He is also providing an internal witness for me of my identity and my status.

He reminds me of that. Here's a second thing to do, and this is from Romans 13-14. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.

What does that look like? You see, you have a new nature. And to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, you could say he's calling us to develop the mind of Christ. As we develop the mind of Christ and we think like Christ, then we will walk in his steps. As we follow him, we will imitate him. But again, so much of it has to do with transforming us at the level of our affections and our attitudes.

And by attitudes, I mean habits of thought. Here's the third one, guarding against the passions of the flesh. 1 John 3, verse 6, no one who abides in him keeps on sinning.

You like that? Isn't that a tremendous promise? Did you know that was in the Bible? No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. What John is saying here, he's not saying that if you are a Christian, you have now arrived at sinless perfection. We all know that's not true. Human depravity is the single most empirically verifiable truth and reality in existence.

And I know that just by looking in the mirror, and I can look out here and say the same thing, okay? No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. What John is saying in saying this is, there are two practices in this verse, aren't there?

There's two of them. There's abiding in Christ and there's engaging in a sinful attitude or behavior. Here's his point, you can't do both at the same time. And if you don't want to exercise the sinful attitude or behavior, the way to do that is to abide in Christ.

Make yourself at home in his presence. It's the branch, so abide in Christ as a branch drawing life from the tree. Abide in Christ as the branch drawing life from the tree, because that's how that branch bears fruit. And then fourthly, we all know Psalm 119 verse 11, don't we? I have stored up your Word in my heart that I might not, what? You learned that as a child, didn't you? You even know it today, but is it true in your life? First question I have for you, are you storing up God's Word in your heart?

If you are not, you ought to be. Hear me now, hear me clear. If you are not storing up God's Word in your heart intentionally, clearly, regularly, you ought to be.

There's good reason for it. Memorizing Scripture is God's Word to go. How do you expect the Holy Spirit to bring to remembrance the things that God has said if you're not memorizing his Word? Colossians 3 16, you know, I mentioned this one a lot, let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. Consume and digest his Word regularly.

And let it inform and transform your affections and your attitudes. That is how the grace of God works. Think of all the resource that God has given us. He's given us his Son, the redemption that we have, his righteousness.

We have that. His forgiveness, his righteousness. We are reconciled to the Father like the branch reconciled back into the tree through Jesus Christ. He's given us his Spirit who illuminates his Word, brings it to remembrance, is the inner witness, and he transforms us and regenerates us. He's given us his Word.

And that's the information that we need in our hearts and our minds. All of this from God. And lastly, he's given us his people. So those four resources, we could name many others as well, but he's given us his Son, he's given us his Spirit, he's given us his Word, and he's given us his people. Listen, do you realize all the resource you have to fulfill 1 Peter 2-11?

Because he's not just saying, stop it, don't do that. He's saying, replace it with something much greater, much better, much nobler, much more satisfying. Abstain from fleshly lusts which were against the soul. Why should I abstain from fleshly lusts, from the passions of the flesh that were against the soul?

Two reasons. Number one, it's not who you are. The passions of the flesh which wage war against the soul, it is not who you are.

The call of that dumpster, or that call of this flashy thing, that this flashy person, or this flashy event that says, hey, you know, come, you're gonna have a great time, or whatever it is, whatever it might be that lured you for evil all the way back in the Garden of Eden, it was fruit on a tree. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace, weekdays at 10 a.m.