Transcript: Lesson 12 - What's the solution for sin?

Welcome, friends, we are thinking about the biblical story. And what that says about our sexuality, our  marriage singleness, how we understand these different dimensions of who we are. In this unit, we're  thinking about the story of sin and how sin affects us. In the last video, we talked about the vice of lust,  and how lust in effect, puts us in our own prison. And so in this video, I want to talk a little bit about  what's the solution for the vice of lust. And to do this, we have to think about what's the solution to sin in  general, but particularly to this struggle. One thing I really want to highlight here is that we have to  understand that the Christian faith is not behavior modification, but heart transformation, if we try to  modify our behavior, someone else's behavior, without real heart transformation, either A. it's not going  to really take or B. we're going to, we're going to have people who maybe can follow the rules really well  or who learned to kind of put on appearances, but who don't genuinely know Jesus. And so at the heart  of the solution for sin, is coming to know who Jesus is, and of recognizing of his great love for us, that He  died for us and that he lives again to empower us into a new way of life. And so the solution for sin  ultimately is conversion is faith and repentance, of trusting who Jesus is, and repenting, and repenting  has this idea of, of a turning because our hearts have actually been changed, we turn and we go a  different direction. Now, I want to make clear here then that when we think about our struggles with  sexual sin, when we think about our struggle with with lust, that what we're saying here is not that you  have to repress your sexuality, not that you have to ignore your sexuality. But rather that actually those  parts of us that are sinful, have to be laid at the cross have to be laid at the feet of Jesus. So it's not  repression, but crucifixion, that has to happen, that we actually give those parts of ourselves over to him,  so that those can be crucified with Him. And again, this is why it's heart transformation. It can't be just  behavior modification, it can't just be repressed that down and try to do something different. It has to be  something that flows from recognizing Jesus's love for me, that then transforms my life as I interact and  grow with him. This also, I think, shows us the ongoing need for the gospel, that even as a Christian, this  doesn't mean I heard the gospel, once I had this conversion experience, I turned, I repented. Now I'm  now I'm heading in a different direction. And I never have to repent, again. What I need every single day  is to have the gospel preached to me to recognize that on my own, I am good, but fallen. I am someone  who is created in the image of God, but I am somebody who is rebellious against God in trying to  establish myself. And then in the midst of that Jesus pours himself out for me, Jesus gives himself totally  to me. And it's that it's that understanding, it's that rootedness in the Gospel, that that empowers me to  look at my own life and say, Are there dimensions of my life that I need to hand over to Jesus? What  what here, flows out of my own sinfulness, flows out of my own selfishness, and what needs to again this  day, be put to death? And how can I live and walk in the newness of life? Now, I want to be really clear  here that in this path of sanctification, the sanctification is really just a fancy word for spiritual growth.  sanctification is not my work. It's not that Jesus saves me through faith. And now I need to work hard.  It's that day in and day out, I need the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, to help me to embody in my  marriage, what the love of Jesus actually looks like. So that I am not just trying to do this on my own. I'm  not just trying to pull myself up by my spiritual bootstraps, so to speak, but that I'm living a life more  and more of surrender to the Holy Spirit. It's when I do that. The fruit of the Spirit is going to be  developed in me. Galatians 5 talks about the fruit of the Spirit things like love, joy, peace, patience,  kindness, goodness, gentleness, self control. What's important to see is that I develop these fruit, not just  for myself, but they're really the Spirit works in me to bring these to fruition for the benefit of others.  That it's not a It's not a self focus thing. But it's a being linked to the spirit so that my life can overflow  and make a difference in the life of others. I also grow through what some theologians talk about as  means of grace. By means of grace, we mean, where are opportunities for me to receive God's grace  being poured into my life in in new and helpful ways. So one common way that we receive grace from  God I think on a weekly basis is gathering around the word hearing the word preached. Hearing the  word taught. It's, it's participating in baptism and communion, of being united with Jesus more and more  through that. It could be through other ways, pathways of discipleship, and connection and growth with 

fellow believers where, you know, I get together for a Bible study once a week with brothers in Christ.  And that time is incredibly important in my own life in terms of receiving God's grace, this is spirit  empowers me. And so as we do this, you know, I hope what you're seeing here is that really this this is  gospel sexuality. This is not about let me come up with a list of do's and don'ts. And try really hard to  keep to that. It is understanding who Jesus is understanding what Scripture teaches, and then walking in  that way by the power of the Spirit. So what happens as I become transformed more and more each day  by the Spirit. In contrast to lust, the way that we talk about this in a positive way, is chastity. This is a  term again, this might be a more obscure philosophical term, a term that maybe is not used all that  much. Or maybe I've heard some people actually use this, instead of celibacy. Celibacy, meaning,  singleness not having sex, because you're a single person. But chastity is a little bit different. chastity is  coming to understand the integrity of the person, body and soul, that those go together that I see myself  as this embodied whole, and I see others in the same way. And so there's this recognition that who I am,  I can't just treat my body treat my sexuality as something to be divorced off from the rest of who I am.  But I see myself as a whole and I see others as a whole, so that I, I don't lust after, I don't abuse them by  seeing them as just a means to an end. Now, chastity involves an apprenticeship in self mastery. And  again, what this means is that day in and day out, I come to have a better vision, to see who God is, I  come to have a better vision to see other people so that I don't treat them as people to be used, and  doing this, coming to have this, this self control, not just in terms of my sexual life, but in my thoughts  and how I see people and how I understand the world around me. They're coming to have this self  control is actually training in real freedom, that if I think about a biblical view of freedom, it's not really  things out there that are obstacles to my freedom, but it's actually my own sinful desires that are  imprisoning me. And so as I come to have more and more self control, to see people as God sees them to  understand the world around me in the way that God does, the war, I'm actually free to be fully human.  And so, from this perspective, real liberation, real freedom, doesn't mean the ability to do just whatever I  want. real freedom means learning to see myself and learn to see others in the way that God sees them  and to live into that, more and more. I'm not gonna lie, chastity is a long and difficult work. And so if  you're, if you're, if you're thinking, Man, this sounds great, but if you just knew the struggles I have, or  the difficulty that I walked through my own life, man I'm walking through right now just feel like it's a  it's a place of brokenness, and I don't get this, I feel myself, you know, falling more and more into lust  rather than chastity. I just want to affirm. This is not easy surrendering to the spirit day by day learning  and growing. Walking in Him is not something that you just snap your fingers and everything's better  forever. I wish it was it would maybe be easier if it was. But what we're saying here is there is this sense  of dependence on the Holy Spirit that as we do this day in and day out, it is a discipline. It is work. It does  take this effort of surrender and striving, to live and to see things the way that God does. And so be  encouraged. If you feel like it is difficult because it is. But don't lose hope. Don't give up, don't lose heart,  when you're thinking about yourself or others, and maybe saying, I wish it was different, I wish things  were better. Keep taking one step at a time, keep putting one foot in front of the other. But we also  recognize that this is a cultural effort. And what I mean by that is, this is not just something that I'm  called to do alone, but it's something I'm called to do in community. It's something that, you know, if I'm  surrounded by a culture, like much of North American culture that that does look at people as just  objects to be used, then I am, it is going to be more difficult because I'm going against that cultural  stream. I'm living a way of life. That is countercultural. But it's also important to recognize that, that  within our church communities, it's important to cultivate a culture that looks at people as God does,  that understands the goodness of bodies, the goodness of sex, the goodness of marriage, but also  understands the way that we sinful human beings take those good things in often to warp them, to make  them about us. And so we want to create a culture in our own communities, that that values people that  understands God's vision, for marriage, for sexuality for singleness. And what that means. And so in the  next unit, we're going to think about, very specifically, what does this look like in marriage? And what 

does this look like in singleness? As we as the people of God to seek to embody this story so that others  can get a glimpse of God's love God's faithfulness, God's care for us, embodied in Jesus. So until next time,  blessings